The Moment

Last week I found myself running on a mountain road before the sun had risen.

It was a moment.

One I thought would never be my moment.

I thought running was for skinny people, ambitious people, young people, rich people, different people, crazy people. Not ME people.

But here I was...

running
up
a
mountain

and enjoying it no less!

The air was laced with the scent of pine trees.
There were birds singing cheery early morning tunes.
The rest of the campground was silent with sleeping campers.
The sky was just beginning to brighten with the first rays of the sun.

It was a moment to be savored.

It was a moment I realized something startling.

It was not very long ago that I was pushing, struggling, gasping to run to the end of my neighborhood block.

And now I'm jogging UP a mountain?! and feeling alive and ambitious and amazing and able while doing it.

Who is this new Evelyn? This girl is so different from the girl I was a few months ago. If someone had told me how quickly this physical and mental transformation could happen I would have scoffed at them.

No way.

No way can I be happy.
No way can I run.
No way can I run a mile or two or more.
No way can I lose this weight that keeps me prisoner physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, socially, romantically.
No way.

YES WAY!

No, life isn't perfect peaches, roses and rainbows now that I can run more than 3 miles at a time or because I have lost 40 pounds. Every day is a struggle in one way or another.

But, yes, I can do so much more than I knew I could. I CAN lose 60 more pounds. I CAN truly enjoy running and exercise. I CAN run a 10K. I CAN complete a half marathon. I CAN be more than I have resigned myself to be. I CAN pick up my kids without hurting. I CAN wear clothes that fit. I CAN be with people without wishing the earth would swallow me whole.

And I realized all of this in the matter of one moment.

It was a beautiful moment.

Have you had your moment yet?