Running the Quarantine: I Can Do Something on my Terms
How many times have we heard the term “unprecedented times” since COVID-19 hit our world? It seems to be an accurate descriptor and yet, somehow a bit hollow in capturing the depth, breadth and universal scope of all the devastation that COVID-19 has left in its wake. I describe this time in our history as a pandemic of grief and loss that caused life as we know to change rapidly and profoundly, leaving humankind often ill –equipped to cope with the harsh realities now facing us. As a therapist who sits daily with the anxious, I marvel at how seemingly overnight, almost everyone is now experiencing characteristics of an anxiety disorder. The hallmark being that the illusion that we had control has been stripped from us in a flash and for many that is an understandably terrifying realization.
This is where running enters the scene, as she often does, to offer a bright light in a dark tunnel. I could accurately, for better or worse, be described as a science-y spiritual gal, with a pulse on brain research and a toe in the matters of the energetic realm. I’m a visualizer, a mindfulness seeker, someone not afraid to turn eyes up to the heavens and one continually in search of evolving to some higher form of understanding. And while all of these things bring helpful aid in times of crisis, to both myself and my clients, the toolbox of coping mechanisms has an extra special weapon if you are lucky enough to count running among them. Running at this juncture of uncertainty is terra firma, mentor, life giver, friend, freedom and anxiety inoculator that is so craved at this juncture.
Suddenly, as I put on my running duds, fill up my handheld, slip into my old friends and lace them up, pandemic life starts to change a little bit. A sense of normalcy and authority come out to play. Within the first steps, I feel anxious energy dumping down into the pavement as my rhythmic footfall reminds me that all of “this” is temporary. Even as I wish to resist the new reality, I feel my runner’s heart pounding, my lungs working automatically to sustain me and that is when gratitude decides she shall make an entrance. Before long, my previously racing mind starts to develop new ideas and somehow lands on acceptance and meaning. Just maybe, I think, through this whole tragic thing, we can make a difference to others who need us. That maybe all we really have in life anyway is this moment and that the whole point of life is love anyway. So why not spread love and compassion faster than coronavirus? That perhaps this time will help someone develop a new lease on life, help families make changes to live their best life, and that others will step up in countless ways each day that remind us how lovely humans really are at the core.
Oscillating between these powerful epiphanies and the daunting facts of so many lives lost and the gripping fears that maybe more losses are coming that I don’t really want to face, I bound onward. And as I wrap up my run, heart pounding, legs energized, a smile plastered across my face: an old thought pops up to remind me of the truth that running has prepared me as best as she could by building an endurance of spirit that knows only to triumph and thrive.