Don't take yourself so Serious.

"Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy...The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with JOY." Psalms 126:2-3

With just a few weeks left until the end of the year, I am loving not taking my running so serious.
I haven't added my weekly miles, monthly miles or even tallied up my miles for the year.
I have ran without my watch, I have quit on runs before I planned and I have even cut my miles down without a thought or a plan.
That's not saying that I am burned out or cutting back. It is just saying that I am enjoying not being so committed or serious.
I am enjoying other things. I actually enjoy cleaning my house when I am not in a hurry. Turning my music up and dancing through each of the rooms. I spent 8 hours cooking in one day last week and even enjoyed waking up at 6:30 am to make my friends desserts.

We have had a lot of FUN RUNS. One of the things I am doing differently is cutting my miles back to about 40 miles a week, and honestly even less than that.
But I am trying to pick my snail tail up.
I feel like Dr. Jekell and Mr. Hyde. I am rather high energy and overall happy kinda gal. But on these serious runs I shut down, get quiet and smile a whole lot less.

Lacey and I ran Sunday around town. Our aim was to run 7-8 miles @ a sub 9min/mi.
Feeling all adventurous I even wore a running skirt.
We didn't really pay attention to our pace the first couple miles. By the last 3 miles, we had picked up our pace and we both got REAL quiet.
The last mile towards my house is a series of rolling hills. Focused and determined to stay steady up the hills, we grunted our way to the top of each one. My legs were numb, cold and tired but we were on a mission. As we came up the last roller to my street, I was so excited to see our pace, I knew we had just rocked out the last half a mile. I looked down at my Garmin and wanted to cry. My watch had DIED! Lacey wasn't wearing her watch, therefore, together we grieved that lost half a mile.
We only pouted a few minutes, then we laughed and cheered each other on.
We are quirky.
Laughing over the little things, teasing one another and just being plain ridiculous.

There are so many places we can find JOY. Laughter.
If you run with me, like Lacey, you can start laughing at my outfits before I even say anything to make you laugh.
I can find laughter in the woods. I love watching each other prance around rocks, roots and dodging branches. Today, a tree had fallen and it made me giggle climbing over the big hunk of wood.
Laughter is everywhere if you don't take everything so serious.

Its a beautiful time of the year and it is also a hard time of the year. Sometimes life is serious and sometimes life doesn't feel real Joyful.
We all have hardships and hurts. Sometimes it takes a little courage to step out and seek Joy.
Even on our toughest runs with life, taking time to smile, to giggle or to find a little laughter makes things a little more approachable.
Laughter doesn't discount our hurts. It doesn't cheat our losses. Joy interrupts. A smile softens the blows. It realigns our thinking.


RUNDOWN:
Distance: 12 miles-ish. 
Place: Holdridge. 
Find Joy.

Anita