Running has been my stress reliever all throughout college.
However, I started to have hip problems about a few years ago, which spiraled into an excessive amount of frustration. The elliptical, stair master, bike, nothing else clears my head like running, but I had to learn to give my body rest, and go with the flow. Days when I can't run, I do the elliptical and remind myself that it's okay, and this is great way to test my mental toughness.
Last week, I prayed to GOD that I could get a good run in, and he answered my prayers. It was the first that I ran 8 miles in awhile. I was in my first mile and was unsure how my body was going to hold up. When I run, I get so zoned, and look straight ahead.
When I hit the second mile marker, I had this idea. Instead of focusing on my mile times today, and instead of just worrying about my run, I decided to do something to clear my head, make me feel good, but also make OTHERS feel good too.
This is what I did. It was something very small and simple...I smiled at everyone I passed by.
"Wait, that is all that you did?" Yep.
I smiled at every single person I passed by. I decided to turn my head and try to make another person's day, instead of my own.
Some people didn't smile back, some people gave huge smiles, and others may have been freaked out or wondered why some chick was randomly smiling at them on this trail by the river.
I did this because it made me think. How simple can it be, attempting to make 15-20+ people smile randomly within a matter of an hour- hour and a half.
We never know if we are passing by someone who is going through a divorce, someone who is battling cancer and finds the strength to walk a few miles on a nice day, someone who is struggling financially, someone who just lost a loved one, someone who is battling anxiety or depression everyday.
This is why it is so important to be kind to every person we pass by. We never know what the person right next to us is facing.
Be someone's sunshine. You never know how much you can make someone's day, just by doing the smallest and kindest things for someone else.
So the next time that you think about it, open the door for someone. Let the car out in front of you, even during 5:00 traffic. Pay for the person's coffee in line behind you at Starbucks. Do something so small, yet so large.
The world could use a lot more of good deeds and less strikes, wars, and negativity. We are one nation under GOD, aren't we?
Stand out in the crowd, and fight society with all that you have. Do not fall into the flow of society, and hop on the bandwagon. Don't talk badly about others. Don't be selfish. Don't think of yourself first, think of others first.
Think about how beautiful the world would be, if we all did this?
Be brave. Be bold. Be fearless. Be a follower of Jesus Christ and stand for what you know is right.
