I was coerced by a very good friend of mine to join a running group called Couch Potato to 5k. I had not run for close to a year. I also had been having recurring joint and muscle pain issues and did not think I was up to it, but that is another story. I decided to give it a try. The first week was encouraging- they started off nice and slow. We would walk to warm up, do some stretching, and then alternate walking and jogging for 20 minutes. The longest we jogged at a time was two minutes. Second week was a bit more challenging because we were up to three minute jogging intervals, and this was feeling more like work. Week three workout number seven was a shocker. They did not even tell us ahead of time what we were going to do, probably fearing we would all say "yeah, right, I'm going home now!" We walked and warmed up and stretched and then we started jogging. Jogged three minutes, walked 90 seconds. Okay. Jogged again. Jogged for what was beginning to feel like forever. Walked, jogged, walked and jogged forever again. When it was all over, and we were still alive they told us- the two long intervals had been five minutes. What were they thinking? That was an awful lot to ask, so soon, from us couch potatoes! But we made it, and now with four more weeks under our belts and running for 30 minutes at a time now, it seems so silly. Five minutes? Ha! That's nothing!
Well it all got me thinking about perspective again and how it changes with our experience and circumstance. Five minutes is a lifetime and five minutes is a flash of lightning. Both are true.
Is that why in the Bible it says that to God a thousand years is like a day? If you have been around forever, then a thousand years could be like a day. A thousand years? Ha! That's nothing!
When we are in heaven and around for eternity, our whole lives here will feel as though they were a blink of an eye. Eighty years! Ha! That's nothing.
I will try to remember that when I am missing Amanda.
I will try to remember that when I have five minutes to spare; five minutes to enjoy the moment.
Can it possibly be that if I keep running pretty soon thirty minutes will feel like nothing? To marathoners I am sure thirty minutes is just a warmup! Just a thought....
