Normalcy

Yesterday, after I wrote the post, "Running Will Do That", I felt like people may read it wrong thinking that I am saying that runners are better people and that running is the only activity that affords acceptance and community.  I don't mean to infer that at all.  In essence, I am just making an observation based on the 100's of races that I have run, the thousands of miles that I have meandered all over this country and the friends that I have been connected to through running.  Believe me, we runners are all humans and have our quirks, idiosyncrasies, and quite frankly are a bit strange at times.  We are sinners and saints in our own ways. But, we are a community.  I have read many John Ortberg books, thanks to my friend Ed (or Eddie as he is lovingly known by his southern family).  John Ortberg is a pastor in Menlo Park, CA.  You don't have to be a Christian to enjoy both the seriousness and humor in his books.  Certainly his topics are presented in the light of Christianity but the topics are relative to ALL humans and ALL of us can learn from them.  In his book Everybody's Normal Till You Get To Know Them, John makes the point about the importance of community but in the context of normalcy.  Here is an excerpt from the front/back flaps (supposing this is a technical term for the book world):

The need for community is woven into the very fabric of our being.  Nothing else can substitute for the life-giving benefits of connecting with others - not even God.  He won't preempt the way he himself has designed us to reflect his own intensely relational nature.

But there is a hitch to our experience of community, says John Ortberg:  We're all weird.  Folks around us may seem normal enough but just wait till you get to known them - and they get to know us.

Who doesn't want to be liked, to be wanted, to have solid, satisfying [relationships]?  Ortberg shows what relationships are made of.  He reveals the benefits of authenticity - what it means to live with an "unveiled face," as the Bible puts it.  He encourages us to trade the stones it's so easy to cast at others for acceptance.  He opens our eyes and hearts to empathy, the art of reading people.  And he takes us through the ins and outs of conflict, forgiveness, confrontation, inclusions and gratitude.

So what does this have to do with running? Maybe nothing, but i would challenge us as diverse human beings in diverse communities to consider these principles.  OK, so what does it have to do with running?

Today during my 12 miler on a beautiful winter day in North Carolina, with so many runners, walkers, bikers, (and some dogs) passing by, I thought about what makes me feel "normal."  Running is my normalcy with an elevated heart rate, a breathing cadence full of song, and muscles trying to find that last bit of glycogen.  I don't feel normal sitting at a desk - my mind gets numb, my lower back hurts, and my heart rate feels too low.  It all goes back to normal when I get on the roads and especially the trails.  Kenny Chesney has a song that I have also written about called Be As You Are.  I am mostly me when I am running or can run or have run - my normalcy, as much as it might not be normal to you.

So, the challenge is to find your normalcy or where you can be as you are.  What is your normalcy?

Today Day 12: 12 miles; 2014: 79 miles

By the way, other books by John Ortberg (and no, I don't get compensated for this marketing message):  If You Want to Walk on Water You Need to Get Out of The Boat; The Me I Want to Be; The Life You've Always Wanted; When The Game is Over, It All Goes Back in The Box; Love Beyond Reason; God Is Closer Than You Think; Who Is This Man