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Life is good. It must be true. I see it on t-shirts. I see it on bumper stickers, decals and magnets. It’s on coffee cups, glasses and water bottles. It’s on bags, books, banners and even on dog collars. I see it everywhere, so it must be true. But, then I listen to reports of death and destruction, trouble and tragedy, conflict and corruption. There seems to be so much bad news that I wonder why people think life is good. That bothers me, and so I run.

I run my familiar trail. It’s not the greatest course in town, but I’m mostly free from traffic and my thoughts are free to roam. I think of my husband and how great it is to have a man that loves me so. My husband of 52 years treats me like a goddess. He helps around the house doing the heavy duty chores like cleaning the bathrooms, the ceiling fans, the floors. He gives me flowers for no reason, even though once they were weeds from a lawn he mowed. They were weeds, but they were beautiful weeds and his thoughtfulness touched me. He cracks silly jokes that make me laugh, gives me hugs and kisses each and every day and never forgets to tell me how much he loves me. Life is good.

I run with friends for a long Sunday run or a nice easy run on the beach, or a lovely Saturday run with breakfast afterward. My friends and I talk about the tragedies of the week, the best way to solve the problem of repeat sex offenders, and how we could run the country much better than the politicians. Our conversations scatter over many topics. We talk about work, family, men and food; food being our favorite subject. We share secrets, give each other advice and offer encouragement. The bad news of the week doesn’t seem so bad when you discuss them with your friends. It doesn’t matter if they have a different opinion. We listen and agree or disagree and then run another mile. The miles go by very quickly when you run and talk with your friends. Life is good.

I run races. I like the challenge and appreciate the results of my hard training. I visualize my running heroes and try to emulate their tenacity, dedication, and never give up attitude. I see Deana Kastor finishing strong and determined in the 2006 Summer Olympics. I see Bernard Lagat running a national record in the 2 mile race at the Millrose Games – at age 38! I am thankful for Kathryn Switzer, who paved the way for women like me, allowing us to run freely. It’s hard to hold on to a hero these days. So many of them have fallen from grace. But, there are still so many good runners, bikers and triathletes that we can look up to with high esteem and respect. Their inspiration and ethics make them great role models. Because of them, and my running heroes, I became a runner. Life is good.

Death and destruction, trouble and tragedy, conflict and corruption will always be around us. Bad news will always be reported. We can let it stress us out. We can swear at the politicians. We can cry over school shootings. We can choose to be bothered by the badness, or we can run. Life is good.

Tell us why you think life is good! We'd love to hear from you. You can post right here on our page or any of our social media platforms. Thanks for following our blog.

Enjoy the journey…one Milestone at a time!