Let me be frank:\u00a0 there is one thing I have hated my entire life.\u00a0 No, not pickles.\u00a0 Not even disrespect.\u00a0 Unfortunately, too many times in my playful adolescence, I partook of both.<\/p>\n
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While it is true our family has attempted as best as possible to adopt the \u201chate what God hates\u201d mentality (which thus allows pickles to remain a non-hated option),<\/em> the Intramuralist must confess to a tinge of hypocrisy, as my enduring hatred has yet to be mentioned negatively in any even dead sea scroll.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I have always hated running.<\/em>\u00a0 Yep, running.\u00a0 Moving one foot in front of the other for an extended period of time, without a book to read, show to watch, or witty person to talk to.\u00a0 Dwelling on my perceived boredom associated with the activity, I remember years ago during pre-iPod\/Walkman days, donning my cool cassette player and a basketball, thinking perhaps the clever combination of music and dribbling would somehow ease my pain.\u00a0 Note:\u00a0 it didn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In recent years, no less, I have been humbly graced by the friendship of a few persistent, pesky, and pretty perky runners in my life.\u00a0 God bless you, guys, but that\u2019s still not my \u2018thing.\u2019\u00a0 <\/em>But yet, they\u2019ve taught me something…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n My running friends profess the process is more mental than physical; running has more to do with the mind and spirit as opposed to the actual body.\u00a0 Mind over matter.\u00a0 A reshaping of the mind.\u00a0 As one wise friend says with unparalleled passion, \u201cwhatever we pay attention to grows.\u201d\u00a0 If we pay attention to how much our body hurts when running\u00a0 (or how bored we may be),<\/em> we will fail to persevere.\u00a0 We\u2019ll miss the run.\u00a0 Hence, the question is:\u00a0 what\u2019s our focus?\u00a0 On what are we fixing our eyes?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Where we go, what we do, the successes we enjoy, the places we falter… on what are we fixing our eyes?\u00a0 Allow me to thus assert, that whatever our eyes are fixed upon is solely what we will see.\u00a0 For example…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n … if we fix our eyes upon Boehner or Barack\u2019s broken promises, we\u2019ll miss their promises kept.<\/p>\n … if we fix our eyes upon one party\u2019s infinite wisdom, we\u2019ll miss our own lack of objectivity.<\/p>\n … if we fix our eyes upon another\u2019s lack of grace, we\u2019ll miss the times we ourselves have justified refusal.<\/p>\n … if we fix our eyes upon the praise of NBA\u2019er Jason Collins \u2014 who was vocal about his sexuality last week, we\u2019ll miss the criticism of NFL\u2019er Tim Tebow \u2014 who many have asked to remain silent.<\/p>\n … if we fix our eyes upon the need for all to have free education and healthcare, we\u2019ll miss that our government doesn\u2019t have enough money for it to be free.<\/p>\n … if we fix our eyes upon our government\u2019s lack of money, we\u2019ll miss how to care for \u201cthe least of these.\u201d<\/p>\n … if we fix our eyes upon the emotion stemming from the victims in Newtown, we\u2019ll miss the rationale for the 2nd Amendment.<\/p>\n … if we fix our eyes upon the existing prejudice of many white people, we\u2019ll miss the existing prejudice of many black people.<\/p>\n … if we fix our eyes upon \u201cif-it-feels-good-do-it,\u201d we\u2019ll miss the negative impact of moral relativity.<\/p>\n … and if we fix our eyes upon the \u2018speck in another\u2019s eye,\u2019 we\u2019ll miss the log in our own.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Such begs the question:\u00a0 what should we fix our eyes upon?\u00a0 What\u2019s so worth it \u2014 that the focus does not result in blindness elsewhere? \u00a0What lasts? \u00a0My running friends suggest we must keep our eyes on the prize \u2014 on where we want to end up \u2014 on the big picture, so-to-speak.\u00a0 Only by keeping our eyes fixed upon where we want to go will our gaze not prompt blindness somewhere else.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Meanwhile… yes… true… I\u2019ve started running.\u00a0 Shocking, I know… I, too, am a little dumbstruck.\u00a0 But my focus is no longer on the perceived boredom nor bodily harm; it\u2019s on something bigger.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Respectfully,<\/p>\n AR<\/p>\n Let me be frank:\u00a0 there is one thing I have hated my entire life.\u00a0 No, not pickles.\u00a0 Not even disrespect.\u00a0 Unfortunately, too many times in my playful adolescence, I partook of both. While it is true our family has attempted as best as possible to adopt the \u201chate what God hates\u201d mentality (which thus … <\/p>\n