Is your journey worth your life?

I feel like Skydiving is a cheap thrill, especially if it involves skydiving with cars.

A temporary experience of fulfillment.  Excitement and danger converge and well up within us a sense of being "fully alive."

Similar to many commercials on TV.  

A couple weeks ago I was sitting and watching TV.  There was a commercial about a girl who got a new pair of jeans, and instantly she was happy.  She started dancing like a fully alive person.  She danced on chairs and you could tell she was happy.

"If only I get those jeans, an overwhelming sense of joy and excitement will well up out of me and I'll burst apart, right?"

We are seeking things that don't fulfill and amidst this realization we still intensely seek after them.

A band named "The Lighthouse and the Whaler" have a song called "Burst Apart."

A lyrics from this song:

"The journey is worth your life..."

Since first hearing this song, this lyric has mulled around in my head.  I can't stop thinking about how essential finding a "journey worth your life" is.  Especially to finding fulfillment, meaning and purpose.

It would be disappointing if becoming "fully alive" was as easy as purchasing jeans or skydiving in some remote village.

Our journeys must be better than that.  We must be willing to give our lives to them.

What journey is worth our life?

Our life is one of our most precious gifts.

What if our ultimate purpose and meaning can be found amidst an orchestrated story with a Creator?  Where we realize, our story, our life is but a small piece of a grand scheme.

What if our life, our meaning, our story is more than ourselves, but rather about something bigger?    

The Awake My Sole journey was based out of striving after Jesus.  It's crazy to think the running & speaking portion of the yearlong journey is finished, however the journey overall journey has only begun.

Whether you are an "extreme-thrill-seeking-sports-athlete" jumping out of planes or a business woman with a routine job, you can fully be alive amidst striving after something bigger.

Ultimately I know my life is not my own, but God's, and I attempt daily to be aware of the journey I am on.

Is the journey you are on worth your life?

Smelly Beautiful Feet

Would you rather, smell Jim's feet after he runs 10 miles OR run 10 miles??? 

Very rarely do my feet smell good.  

Often times after a long run OR after my feet simmer in my TOMS, they find themselves emitting odors that have those nearby gasping for air.  

Resting my stinky feet in the middle of a long run

In fact, earlier today, I was walking around with my shoes off, and in the middle of a conversation my wife stopped what she was saying and asked me to move away.
  

I would say my feet are not beautiful.  They have callouses, blisters, odors and much more.  

A blister on my feet after a 50-mile run

Many who know me, know my faith is very important to me.  I love to have conversations about faith and spirituality.  I especially enjoy dialogue with others of different faiths.  

For me, I'm a follower of Jesus Christ.  I find myself reading the Bible, what followers of Jesus call "The Inspired Word of God."  There is a passage from this ancient text that resonates with the "runner" and "advocate" in me.  It is found in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 52, verse 7.  From the English Standard Version (ESV) it reads:

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."

This verse fascinates and intrigues me.  The author writes about feet and the actions that make them beautiful.

It's as if the saying, "Beautiful feet" is a metaphor involving a movement towards things that are of the Divine.

If this is the case, it doesn't matter if your feet literally smell, you could still be a person with metaphorical beautiful feet.

  

I think about the options and choices we are presented with every single day; for example, to be a person with beautiful feet or to be a person with ugly smelly feet.  You see, our actions can bring good news, through our words and deeds.  If we go up to a person and punch them in the face that would NOT be a "beautiful feet" action.  However, if we were to go up to a person and give them a hug that would be a "beautiful feet" action.  

During the Awake My Sole journey, I've wrestled with this ancient biblical text, and will continue to wrestle with it.  It's challenging and I don't have it figured out.

What are your thoughts after reading the biblical text found in Isaiah?

How does this metaphor apply to your life?  

I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas, please add a comment.  

Let's wrestle with this together.    

:::Some more FEET pics from the AMS journey:::

After running in some stinky mud

In the middle of a run.  Resting my feet

My feet after running is summer humid conditions.  Super wrinkly and smelly. 

Running Saved His Life

I'm recovering well from yesterday's exhausting 54 mile run.  In fact, due to yesterday's heat I did a lot of sweating.  To replenish the sodium my body sweat out, I ate this whole jar of pickles.

Aside from eating a jar of pickles, I wanted to post about an incredible person I met in Davenport this last week.

Scott.

Today's blog post is about how "Running Saved His Life."

Allow me to explain:

Thanks to social media, Scott had been following the Awake My Sole journey on Facebook.  He came across AMS by clicking on it, you know, those little annoying adds on the side of Facebook.  Which is pretty cool, cause he messaged me saying, "I live in Davenport, I run often and would love to run with you, maybe share my story with you."

So, Saturday morning Scott and I met in the parking lot of Redband Coffee Company.  I conveniently scheduled our running to start and stop at Redband, I was going to treat myself to a cup of coffee afterwards.

We ran a little over 5-miles, a loop Scott runs often.  It crosses from Davenport over into Rock Island and back again.  Here is a pic of Scott and I on one of the bridges.




One of the first things I noticed about Scott was all of his tattoos.  In general, tattoos fascinate me, so very quickly I asked "What do your tattoos mean?"

He called them his "sobriety tats."

For a good portion of our run, he willingly shared his story of battling against drugs and alcohol.

He said, "I have a very addictive personality, and I was addicted to some of the wrong things."

He shared some stories of being in jail, how he lied and how he pursued things that weren't healthy for him.

He knew he needed to turn his life around, that his life was going nowhere fast.  So, he started working at a local gym.  It was at the gym where he discovered running.

He quickly fell in love with running.  Almost like his new healthy addiction.

Now, he's sober, and he gets tats to help remind him of his vow of sobriety.  

He mentioned, "Before I heard about your Awake My Sole journey, I was considering running from New York to Iowa."

Maybe he could be the next Awake My Sole runner.

I was hugely inspired by Scott's story, by his determination to stay sober and by his overall love for life.

I asked him, "Can I share your story with others?"

He said "of course."

I also asked him, "Would it be appropriate to say 'Running saved your life?' "

He said, "Along with my faith, Yes, running saved my life."

Treating myself to coffee, reflecting over my run with Scott

It was great meeting Scott, and to see how running has impacted his life in such a good way.  Part of the AMS journey is meeting people, and it was a blessing to meet Scott.

Running with purpose in every step...

Jim