I love running early morning. Ok, running outside it is, I say it to myself as I head towards the kitchen wall to do my five-minute joint stretching routine.
The outside air is crisp and clean. It’s quiet, and complete solitude surrounds me. I start my Garmin watch and let it find its GPS. I set my Cycle Time playlist, start my earbuds. I am ready. Taking a deep inhale, I start with a jog allowing my legs to find their pace, my breath to settle in the quickened rhythm, my brain to relax. I feel my legs picking up the pace, stride getting longer and smoother. I breath faster, and feel the smooth endorphin surge – runner’s high – settling in. I keep the pace for about 40 minutes, and finishing the hilly loop. I arrive back home drenched in sweat; my mind calm, ready to take on the day ahead. I am stretching while cooling off, then proceed to shower and get ready for work. The on-the-go breakfast sandwich I made the night before, cinnamon-raisin toast with almond butter and banana is packed, ready for me in the fridge. I have a full schedule ahead of me, but I don’t care. Bring it on Life, I am ready for you!
I love my workouts. It’s MY time. I do my best thinking while I run. I see my brain as a disordered mess before the run which self-rearranges into a neat canvas, ready for my use thereafter. It may sound unusual to most, but my state-of-mind afterwards is anew. Calm, relaxed, de-stressed (as we should be), but the reality is that we are not. Life happens. We have to be accepting and show gratitude.
Through the last almost 36 years in this country I learned to cherish this ritual immensely. It’s the time I give to myself every day, my whole, undivided attention. And when I don’t, well… I feel robbed. My wellbeing depends on this. It’s not only food, sleep, clothes, a roof over our heads, work, material possessions that we need to exist. We need spiritual kindness for ourselves. We need more than to exist. We need to thrive.
I am as busy as you all are, maybe busier. I work full time. I am the CEO of my own MFM telemedicine practice, practice clinical medicine, a non-fiction book author, motivational speaker, an Ironman competitor, and go on yearly OBGYN “train-the-trainer” humanitarian missions. I am a mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter, a friend and a listening ear to someone or another. Most of all, I am a human being, just like you. When I was young and not this wise, I used to believe I could go on, and on, and on. Buzzing at warp speed, like Halley’s Comet. Always thinking, playing catch-up with lost time, always planning for the next step in school, residency, military, family, fellowship. I had to be 10 steps ahead of the game. Early bird catches the worm, right? And like everything in life, nothing is permanent, good, or bad. On my graduation day from UNE COM while pregnant with my first son I encountered a huge, unexpected setback. It was that day when I started reflecting back and realized the stark reality, that I have LIMITED control over a lot of things in my life. Therefore, I should concentrate on the ones that fully depend on me; my wellbeing for example. So, I started evaluating my life, and slowly learning to enjoy the journey, and stop being so terribly fixated on only my destination.
How do you fit it all in? I get asked this magic question, ALL the time. Well, I don’t. I came to realize that I cannot possibly fit it ALL in. Something has got to give, and it’s only up to me, and me alone, to figure out what matters most to me, my priorities in my own life.