I set out on trails in Aliso Canyon this morning, not in the best of moods. Things that annoy me lately plagued my thoughts. And I also kept trying to figure out how I was going to fit in my forty-five miles this week. This almost obsessive preoccupation really frustrated me. I can’t do this when I run! Troubled by my dilemma, I recalled the words one of my son’s taekwondo masters used to say to him. That is, “Where you are, be there.”
Where you are, be there.
Where you are, be there.
Every time anger surfaced, and every time I started thinking about anything other than what I was doing this morning on the trails, I repeated this mantra. Where you are, be there.
I was able to put in 12.11 slow miles this morning, despite difficult beginnings. I enjoyed the wind, the caterpillars, the deer. I stood in awe at the ocean’s deep blue color. All this was fantastic payback for forcing myself to be there.
12.11 miles, +1,215’ / Route: Aliso Creek Trail, Wood Canyon, Wood Creek, Wood Canyon, Cholla, West Ridge, Top of the World, Meadows, Wood Canyon, Aliso Canyon
I like that mantra! It is certainly the way to be on the trails.
ReplyDeleteThose words have stuck with me ever since my son's taekwondo master said them to him. It was like he was speaking to me!
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