Through It

I cannot discuss fleas right now. Fleas suck.

So, instead, I offer you this:
Today, I ran four miles through searing stomach pain. Why, you might wonder, didn’t I quit when the pain started? Because I wanted to know that I could navigate pain, work with and through it. I needed to know I could feel it but not be defeated by it.

I kept telling myself, through the worst of the pain, to unfurl. Each time I repeated it in my head, I saw rolls of canvas unfurling… And I could feel my clenched muscles relax enough to embrace the pain instead of fight it.

Emotionally, I have been really tense lately, too. I am fighting the wrong things, struggling against myself. But, in the moments of pain and surrender on my run, I finally may have figured out how to unfurl.