The View You Have to Work For

Years ago, I was listening to some random NPR program. This was in the days when I didn't have a tv, but had Satellite Radio (in my defense, my ex paid for the subscription. And subsequently paid for a full year after we broke up too ha). Anyway...there was a program on indigenous ways of healing and medicine. As in those that are not chemically manufactured in a lab with high paid chemists in lab coats and goggles. Not that I'm against that in entirety (I reference this in a previous post, I won't belabor it here). Anyway, there was a healer from Appalachia being interviewed and he said something along the lines (I'm generously paraphrasing) that God put all the good healing herbs and roots far into the forest. The kind you had to work for to heal major ailments. i.e. peppermint, which cures a common upset tummy or bad breath, can be easily found everywhere. It takes a true healer and someone following Spirit to wade deep into the forest to find the herbs to heal the difficult and more serious ailments. And so the patient of the healer enjoyed the work of the healer.

view of beautiful valley, wanted you to experience as I did. 

So it is with running. I love running Iroquois Park (a common theme, no?). There is a route that takes you up. And keeps taking you up.  Nearly 2 miles of non-stop up. And when you've made it, you've truly made it. The view is GORGEOUS! This is the view you have to work for. Yea, yea you could get there by car. But I suspect the view is neither as awesome nor rewarding.

Click here to view the route and elevation


I ran the double loop a few days ago. Around the bottom, up to the middle-top, then I decided to take the plunge and keep going up. And up. And up. And up. And BAM! The view you have to work for. But by the time I got there, the last thing I wanted to see was a large vista that indicated the distance I had left to run in order to get to my car. Half way around the top loop, at the second look out, I thought, "stop. Enjoy the view. You've worked for it."

And so my invitation to you is this: When you reach the "summit" of any challenging task stop and enjoy the view. Afterall, this is the view YOU worked for. Give yourself permission to enjoy it. Otherwise, you might as well just (metaphorically speaking) stay on a treadmill. Or at least that's my twenty six point two cents worth.