Choosing the High Road

I'm trying to encourage my 14 year old son to run. Really, I'd like him to do anything that makes him sweat and raises his heart rate. Because our bodies are meant to move. We just feel better when we get that blood pumping and force oxygen into our muscles. After exercise, we think more clearly, we're more productive and we're in a better mood.

The other day, I gave my son a choice on our 2-mile jog: We could take the uphill road for a quarter mile, or stay on the flat trail. "Why would we take the hard way?,"  he asked.

I explained that when we accomplish difficult goals, or things we don't think we can do, we feel stronger and more powerful than we every imagined. Pushing ourselves outside our comfort zone makes us grow and gives us confidence in every area of life.  We started a few weeks ago with just a one mile run.

Will he get a side cramp? Will his legs ache? Yes, probably. But all that is temporary. It's the stuff we endure to reach the goal. Is it easy? No. But nothing worthwhile is easy.

It helps if you take little steps in that journey toward the goal. Walk first, then run. About 4 years ago, before I really kicked my fitness into gear, I would have never considered strapping on a pair of skis and heading for the hills. I skied when I was a teenager, zipping down the hill, out of control--barely surviving. Older now, and not so willing to risk a broken bone, there's much more caution. But that doesn't mean we stop taking risks.

My 14 year old son is a black diamond kind of guy. He has confidence and agility on skis that I will never have. But I've progressed over the years, from the bunny hill, to the green runs and this year, blue runs only. The first time I glimpsed at River Run in Dillon, Colorado, I told my family, "I will NEVER ski down that hill."

It was terrifying to even think about it. It was numbing to watch others swoosh down it. But with confidence, strength, determination...and yes, sometimes falling, we reach our goals.

This year on a confident run, I headed for the blue, with my family waving me off--telling me I was going in the wrong direction. I knew exactly where I was headed. And I skied that run over and over again--with the excitement of a toddler just learning to walk. My 14-year-old even cheered me on.

It didn't happen overnight. It wasn't easy. It was a VERY high road. And I'm a little stronger for it.

Lesson learned and taught.