The Pond Route or the Weeds Route?

How many times have you had THE PLAN for your day, month, year, or life only to watch that plan vanish in an instant? Most likely, everyone. If you haven't, then you cannot be human. :)

Saturday morning I woke up and put on my running shoes, grabbed my mp3 player, my keys and my phone. I drove to a local park in town called "Old C****a Park"....however, it's not that old. In fact the newness of it is apparent when you drive up. Most everything sparkles: the play equipment, the picnic benches and it's been the site of many great community events: balloon festival, softball and baseball games, soccer games and practices. There is even a nice little trail around the entire parameter with a beautiful water fall in the middle. I fancy this place for my running time because it's so calming, so close to nature and, thus, I feel a greater presence around me when I'm there.

So, I started my music up, put on my headphones, locked the door, took in a deep breath of crisp fresh air and shut the door. WAIT! I was now staring at my reflection in the door window and staring back at me were my keys AND my cell phone nestled neatly by the gearshift. Ugh! Paul swears that once a year, every year since we've been together, that I lock my keys in the car. It never fails. He was happy that I got it out of the way - it was January 5th!

I took another deep breathe, found an upbeat song (Dance Floor Anthem - Good Charlotte) and started on my run back home. I was pretty sure I'd be running a good mile or mile and a half, but with good music I was sure all would be fine.

As I started off, I realized that I'd just left a very peaceful park for the greatness of a county road. Several cars passed as I made my way down a lonely street near a school. Instead of beautiful waterfalls, I was now looking at a sea of weeds, trash, mud, water and soon I noticed I'd pass a few cows. As I continued jogging on, I began thinking how much my situation resembled life.

Many times we plan on everything going well, running smoothly, enjoying the newness of it all and then all of a sudden we find ourselves dealing with the weeds, mud, trash and cow manure.

As I finally ended up on my back porch, I felt thankful for the longer run, albeit not as pretty, but I still made it to my destination and maybe even a little stronger for it, too.