As a senior in high school training for my upcoming basketball season, long jogs around our neighborhood were part of my daily routine. One crisp, fall, windy afternoon, I was
coming to the end of my run and pushing hard on the last block… “finish strong”
as my coaches often told me.
The beautiful liquidambar trees were flashing their vibrant falls colors, blanketing the ground with leaves and seed balls (you know, the ones with the spikes all over them). Well as I picked up speed on my final block, I failed to notice a seed ball right along my path, and WAM, my ankle rolled on it, and I went full speed crashing onto the hard pavement. It was a serious human yard sale… my sunglasses went flying, my old school headphones pulled my high ponytail to the side, and my bright yellow cassette playing walkman slid twenty feet down the road. My knees, elbows, and hands were bloody and my ego was even more battered as I got up to see if anyone had seen me take this massive spill. I hobbled home and bandaged my cuts, and to this day I still have a fear
of those little spiky seed balls.
Fast forward nearly twenty years to yesterday as I went for a jog on a similarly crisp, fall, windy day. This time life is much different however. No basketball games to train for. Instead I jog pushing a stroller with my 18 month old son as we rock out to nursery rhymes on my iPhone speaker. The one thing that does remain the same is that fall means spiky seed balls on the ground, and my fear immediately returned as I saw them on the road ahead of us. My head was focused so intently straight down at the ground scanning for these deadly seed balls that I was not even aware of what was around me.
Suddenly, something caught my eye and I looked up. It was the beautiful liquidambar trees lining our street, shining their brilliant fall colors as they waved in the wind. Like being struck by lightning, I was overwhelmed by an intense emotion, GRATITUDE. The sight was truly breathtaking, and I almost missed it because my head was turned to the ground in fear. Then it hit me, WAM, (not by hitting the pavement this time luckily) but
hit me to the core of my being that I needed to eliminate fear and choose gratitude. For when we fear, it causes us to turn our heads to the ground and miss out on the beauty right in front of us. But when we gratefully look up, look around, and appreciate our many blessings, the vibrant colors of life illuminate our souls and fill us with joy. So for today, choose gratitude instead of fear. Look up instead of down. Live gratefully and “finish strong”!
Written by Amy Connelly