Running On Empty, Living For More

Some of my best ideas and thoughts come when I put on my running shoes and hit the pavement. Sometimes I even run in the rain. I’m not insightful enough to discern what it is that makes running such a purifying experience, but I love that it’s not just a physical workout. I recently watched Jon Bellion’s version of the old Switchfoot song “We Were Meant To Live” and there’s a part when the main character is running, sprinting, late at night. He’s fueled by past hurts, energized to push himself physically but the reality is that he’s being compelled not just to run, but to work out his feelings. Sometimes all I can do to work out my deepest thoughts is run.

I remember one time when I lived in Nashville I finished whatever distance I was doing that day, but when I got home there was more left in the tank. And it wasn’t just about running. I had more in my head and my heart I needed to release. Sometimes that comes from listening to music during the run. Sometimes it’s drawn out by things I see or experience. So I passed my driveway and did another loop, however long it was.

Does anyone out there have the spiritual insight into why this happens with running? I guess it can happen in the gym, too. Pushing up weights, strength that comes from an inner longing for more. There’s got to be more to life than whatever we’re going through at any given time.

I guess it’s true: we were meant to live for so much more.

-Out of the Wilderness