Hello World

I've taken up running. Mostly because I like the way it makes me feel afterward. Like I've just accomplished something so great. I love the way it forces me to breathe in and out rhythmically. I love that it lets me think. Think about what I need to do. Think about my future. Think about lyrics to the songs on my i Pod.

It's my time and it makes me happy.

I typically run at night, just when the sun is setting and the Carolina blue sky fades to a mixture of pinks, reds and oranges. A time when the stickiness of the summer air and the temperatures begin to decrease. One day this past week, however, the sky quickly changed from the beautiful evening sunset to a dismal gray. The winds picked up and they blew every which-way and it seemed like Mother Nature was blowing me in the direction of home as if to warn me. But I just kept running. As I was about to turn onto the road that leads to my house, the sky opened up. Torrential downpour.

At first, I was timid from the rain and I ran a bit quicker, stuffing my iPod away where I hoped it wouldn't get wet. Then I stopped in my tracks. I began to walk slowly. I didn't run from the rain-- I just embraced it.  It only took two minutes for my already damp clothes to turn soaking wet. But it was oddly wonderful. As I walked, I spread my hands out opening them up to the sky. Such a great feeling. Unbeknown to me, I was being watched through a screened in porch by two guys who were laughing at my childishness. But they didn't faze me. 

As I walked into my house, my housemate just starred. "How was your day?" she asked sarcastically.

It was beautiful, actually.

There's something wonderful about being caught in the rain. I didn't mind being soaking wet because I had had a deeper reaction to this downpour.

For a second, you are forced to be a child again. To forget your thoughts of getting into graduate school or finishing that laundry list of tasks or studying for that exam. In that moment, you focus on the world and its vastness. It's a reminder that you are small.

Lady Antebellum sang about in their recent song, "Hello World".

Hello world
How've you been?
Good to see you, my old friend
Sometimes I feel as cold as steel
And broken like I'm never going to heal
I see a light
A little grace, a little faith unfurled
Hello world

Sometimes I forget what living's for
And I hear my life through my front door
And I'll be there
Oh I'm home again

I wouldn't have changed that run for anything. Sometimes you need a reminder about how small you are. Sometimes you need a wake-up call to tell you there's a bigger power above.

Sometimes you need to be prompted to say Hello World.