Running Up The Steps…

Have I ever mentioned this before – I consider one of the greatest benefits of running that I get to be alone with my thoughts, get a chance to completely unplug and let my mind run free and unrestricted.  In today’s world, where you hardly ever get a moment of silence and peace, where things happen constantly and your attention is required at all times – isn’t it nice to get away from it all in this ultimate fashion?

As I have so amply described in the past, on numerous occasions I don’t get that freedom and even while being “one on one” with myself, still get disturbed and bothered by the surrounding events.  But then again, an occasion comes when I actually am left alone and get an opportunity to do what I like to do best – just be myself and let it all go.  After all, life is too short to be anything but relaxed and fulfilled.

During my most recent hour of morning alone-time, I somehow ended up on a different route and found myself running uphill for about a quarter mile… I don’t know how, and I don’t know why, but somehow my thoughts wandered back to the events of 9/11, perhaps because this theme was so prevalent over the last few days…  I wondered about one thing, and one thing only – how incredibly courageous and almost super-human those firefighters that ran up the stairs were… it doesn’t get much coverage in the spotlight, but those guys were nothing short of heroes, with everyone naturally wanting to get out of the buildings and running down the steps as fast as they could, and here is a group of men who instead ran upstairs, right into the inferno, attempting to save lives, giving up their own in the process…

Some people may believe in the concept of Divine Providence, some may not… Regardless, some things are meant to be, and sometimes we find ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time – nothing you can do, that’s just fate.  But these guys CHOSE to run up the steps, even though they did not have to, they were not there when the horrible events occurred.  I often wonder what kind of courage, mental power and physical determination it may take to be a true hero, which is exactly what those men were, overcoming their fears and still doing what they thought to be right and proper… As I have said time and again, everyone has fears and reservations, but it is what we do when faced with those fears that makes us the people that we are.

I have no clue why I even began thinking about these things in the first place, I normally push anything negative out of my mind and focus on the good things; if you dwell on the negative for too long, you will never accomplish anything worth mentioning.  I guess I allowed my mind to wander about for a bit too long, and that’s what it had produced, having watched too much TV this past weekend.  It is just that I have always been fascinated with people of incredible strength of character and courage, and we all know that such people are hard to come by – many will claim to be courageous but few will stand up to the real test.

Oh well, enough of these philosophical musings for one time, I promise to return to the comedy bit in my next post, and until then don’t forget to

KEEP IT RUNNING!