Enjoying My Day

Here is an actual conversation that took place in my mind this morning as I was running along the rail trail:

Ooh, look!  Pretty flowers!  I wish I had my camera.

Oh, I do have a camera on my cell phone.

I can't stop, though, I've got to run.  The 5K is coming up and I've got to train.

But they probably won't be so pretty next time I come.

The cell phone doesn't take great pictures, and I've got so much to do to get ready for Holy Week.  I've got to get my run in and get home.

Oh for heaven's sake.  I can take a minute to stop and take a picture.  Who am I?  Joan Benoit?  I can stop for a minute.

So, to make a long story short, after much arguing with myself I did stop, and took several pictures of the beautiful wildflowers coming up through the dry leaves, the sun shining on them just right.  And unfortunately, it is true, my cell phone does not take pictures as well as my camera, so the photo above does no justice to the beautiful sight.  But as I was taking pictures and enjoying the flowers, I was also enjoying the sound of the river below, rushing and tumbling over the rocks because of recent rains.  I was enjoying the feel of the soft breeze and the spring sunshine on my face.  I enjoy my walks and runs on the trail, but after taking a minute to slow down enough to really enjoy my surroundings, when I resumed my run I enjoyed it all the more.  I wondered why I'd been so reluctant to stop and enjoy the flowers.

There is a helpful pamphlet called "Just for Today" that suggests that today I save myself from two pests: hurry and indecision.  Indecision has never been much of an issue for me.  But hurry - well - this morning was a good example of how that pest can sometimes nag at me and rob me of the enjoyment I could choose in my day.  At the moment I consciously recognized that I had allowed that pesky pest hurry to get a toehold in me this morning, and realized that I had managed to save myself from it by stopping to enjoy the flowers, I looked up the hill and noticed this:

It was a face someone had nailed on a dead tree halfway up the hill to the side of the trail.  If I'd still been in such a hurry with my running I never would have noticed it.  In that smiling tree I saw evidence that someone had recently done something for no reason other than just having some fun.  Here was evidence that someone had chosen to enjoy their day, just like I had.

By the time I was almost back to my car, I felt as if I'd been on a mini vacation - all before 7:30 am.  I really, really enjoyed my run.  And as if to cap off the lesson I was given in the woods, I ran by a trout fisherman heading toward the river with his pole.  Now that I was in such a light and happy mood, I said to him, "I hope you catch a fish!"

He answered, "It's such a beautiful day, it doesn't matter if I catch one or not!  Enjoy your day!"