It Is Not A Race...It Is A Chase

I have been doing a lot of running lately. Actually it is more like jogging....at a slow pace for some. Saturday, I did 7.5 miles but truthfully had to walk a bit of it because my knee was giving out. The month of August I ran nearly 50 miles.  I am getting there.  All of this running was to keep the weight off, be healthy, control my diabetes etc. However, there are times that I feel I am CHASING not really RACING.

I have used the running analogy on everything.  You can apply it to your spiritual life as described in Ecclesiastes 9:11 "I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all."

or

1 Corinthians 9:24 "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize."

or
  2 Timothy 4:7 "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

There you go, my sermon for the day. Good stuff to apply to our lives. You can add so much more when it comes to your health, work, stress, rest, comfort, etc.....there isn't anything (I don't think) that you cannot compare running to. It is a self challenging opportunity.

But what I have been feeling isn't running.  Running (in my mind) is running towards a goal. I feel like there are times in my life where it has gone from running to chasing.  I seem to be chasing that goal. Almost as if it is an ever moving target. A target that avoids being hit. A target that may never be hit due to the many obstacles that continuously obstruct my goal for reaching it.

I have gone through nearly 47 years of my life and have pretty regularly and continuously focused on goals that I want to reach in my life.  A bit of a perfectionist thing. Things I want to do, places I want to go and yes even the materialistic goals of having things I have always wanted. Too many times I find myself thinking...."wouldn't it be nice..." Even the bible tells us that we should be content in the state we are in, but sometimes that is difficult to do.  The villains of our mind and body keep us chasing the goals even if they appear too distant.

You know, I would like to have a nice house.  I would love to live in a house that I actually designed from scratch....foundation up! Not one that is constantly the ever evolving money pit in a lackluster neighborhood. However is seems that once you fix something or repair something or build something...the next day (ok, the next few days) it breaks, or something else breaks.  After all, I am an architect. Is that so bad to want? Always chasing the goal of completing this race.

You know, I would love to paint and do artwork again. Easy task that doesn't involve money, however it involves time. Time that seems to slip away each day as all the other tasks takes a forefront to my attention. And then it is the challenge of okay, I am ready to paint.....what do I paint?......I don't know what to do. Or maybe it is even the villain of procrastination.  That one pops up ever too often while we are chasing this race.

You know, I would love to travel and see the world.  Maybe even take some time off to do a little camping. There again the time villain pops up. It is difficult to get way from the office, housework, yardwork or the money villain. The money villain takes all the fun away. We were hopping to get away to Bolivia this fall to see my son and then run over to Machu Pichu. Unfortunately the villains of time and money ganged up on us.  Chasing the race.

You know, I would love to design some really exciting structures. My work has seen some success.  After all we have been around for 13 years. Enduring some of the recent economic struggles is somewhat success in itself. But for an architect, achieving a bit of immortality within their work is a common goal. We study great a famous architecture for years and then expect to only design something that will probably last only a few years.  That is the frustrating chase. It is the patience chase. It is the endurance chase. It is the prefectionistic chase.

You know, I should just keep reminding myself that today...I am in a good place.  Today I should live right where I am.  Tomorrow will come along and then I can deal with tomorrow. Today, I woke up healthy, fresh and alive.  That is a good thing.  Today, I have shelter over my head that keeps be dry and warm. Today, I have a little bit of achy knees because I was able to run 7.5 yesterday (ok, mostly 7.5) That is a good thing. Today, I have time (if I choose to take it) to paint a picture, mow the lawn (if it isn't raining again), fix something broken in the house (again), or even just sit and enjoy the company of my beautiful bride.

You know, CHASING isn't that bad after all.  If I stop, where will I be? If I had stopped long ago, would I even be here? If I don't keep chasing......will I ever keep up with each of these races? I guess I just need to go back and read the scriptures again... Hebrews 12:1, "...let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

Have a great day my friends and I will see you all out on the racetrack!