Walking Among the Dead

 
When I run I like to stay off the main roads. I prefer trails. The course I go takes me through a couple of cemeteries. I don't find it morbid or scary or anything like that, rather, I see it as beautiful. The grounds are typically well kept and more to the point, the people who rest there inspire me. The lives they lived and the place of their current state acts as a reminder to use my time wisely. Sooner than later, I will join them.

So the other day I was cutting through one of the cemeteries when a car drove by with its windows down. The lady driving took offense at my course. She thought that it was disrespectful of me to be running through the grave sites. So, she yelled out her window to me, "You should be ashamed of yourself running on those graves, don't cut through there!"

My quick response surprised even myself."Miss, I'm not running on the graves, I'm walking among them." 

My statement completely took her off guard. A strange look came over her face as she opened her mouth to say something, but didn't know what to say, so she tilted her head, looked forward and drove on her way.

I finished my run with a light heart.

My comeback wasn't just me being a smart ass. I really do feel that I am walking among those people in those graves. They inspire me. I imagine what their lives were. What did they do with their "dash?" You know, the dash between their birth date and the date of their death. We can't do much about those two dates, most of the time they are out of our control. What we do have control over is what we do with the dash between. I think of each of those people and what there lives might have been like. Their ups, downs, successes, failures, happiness, sadness, the beginning and of course the end. What did they do with that dash and more importantly what will I do with mine? What will you do with yours? We never know how long we have. Make each moment matter.


All the best,
~Craig