Running Into the Wind

Yesterday I was jogging in the park and the first part of my "loop" (about a mile and a half) was head on into the wind. It was cold and the wind was pretty strong. I kept laboring, not only to run, but basically to breathe. I remember thinking....this is so hard. I can't wait until I make the turnaround. This will be so easy with the wind at my back. So I kept literally plodding along. When I made the turnaround the wind shifted and, as I expected, the run became much easier. BUT...I noticed that even though the run was easier..... the rush that I had from that cold wind in my face was gone. The sense of accomplishment that I had "made it" into the wind faded as I began "coasting" back to the start. Made me think. Much of life is spent running into the wind. It is a struggle to make the next step and we anxiously look for the "turn" in the road that will put the wind at our backs and let us coast for a while. But there is no sense of accomplishment in that. Aerobically, your heart gets a better workout when you are running into the wind. Perhaps, that is true with our lives. I have learned more through the struggles than I ever have through the coasting. I am more excited when I make it through a difficult time than I am when everything is going my way. I am comfortable with the wind at my back but I am thrilled when I have completed the course with the wind in my face. I am not saying that I want a life of struggles. I just want to remember the experience of running with the wind in my face and the gratitude that I feel when I complete the course. Anyone can coast. So, here's to running into the wind....feeling the pain....but ending the course with a sense of accomplishment and rush of exhilaration that the road has been traveled.