This is one of my views on my daily run. The purple lights remind me of my blog, “purpleoath” and my promise to continue to push myself out of my comfort zone, to open myself to new opportunities, and to live extraordinarily in the moment I’m in…right now.
A few years ago, I decided that I needed to run everyday. At that time I had begun my fascination with how habits were formed and read that daily habits were easiest to maintain because there is no questioning whether you have to perform your habit. You just do it. It was mid-February, in North Carolina (so kinda cold), and I decided that a quick run around my block would suffice to get my blood going. It wasn’t far, it wasn’t time consuming. Everyday I ran around the block, come rain or shine. I ran everyday for 120 days. Even when we were on vacation. Even in torrential downpour. Even when I found out I was pregnant. I ran until I didn’t feel comfortable running (with baby rattling around) anymore.
Running everyday; staying consistent changed me.
Fast-forward to now. Shitty job. Slogging through the day. Feeling like I’m wasting the best years of my life on something I’m not passionate about. I decided that I was going to take back the day. I was going to start my day by running. Outside. In the dark. At 5AM. I wanted the day to be mine, I wanted a say in how my day was going to start instead of starting with my prefabricated morning to meet my job’s requirements: showing up in clothes I would never pick for myself, fake smile, God-forsaken clock-in time, and of course the morning time huddle where we hear how we suck as nurses.
Running that early in the morning started off with dread. I wondered if I would even get anything out of it. It only takes me 7 minutes to run around my block. That’s not really enough time to count as a workout.
After the days accumulated into weeks and weeks into months I can now say my run is anything but exercise. It’s a form of active meditation. I take in the warm breeze, the sound of crunchy palm leaves swaying, passing my neighbor’s purple lit house, the darkness, the stillness, the stars. It’s easy and simple. No struggle. I feel one with it all. I feel peaceful. I take back my day.
The Purple Oath 