I woke up this morning with a startle. It was dark in my hotel room at Hotel Park City, but according to my iPhone, I was about to miss out on a morning sunrise run. Park City, Utah seems hand painted. Every autumn color I could list or think of dots the mountain slopes that surround the valley where I am staying for a Todd Durkin Mastermind retreat. Streams, sprawling horse farms and rocky slopes surprise me at every turn of the road; it is beauty so beautiful that my mind is already thinking more beautiful thoughts.
Perfect timing, this is what I ran into when I first started my run this morning in Utah. What a gift!
Lucky for me, I managed to speed change into my running gear and made it out the door in less than two minutes from getting out of bed. Running, as I turned the first curve of the road leading out from our hotel, I stopped dead short. I had caught the sunrise! And it was no ordinary sunrise. Snapping a quick picture, I took a deep breath as if trying to inhale the beauty of the colors that were overwhelming me from all sides. But then, after that moment of tranquility, the chase continued. I ran uphill, and when I say uphill, I mean up a mountain, without even noticing because my eye was fixed on chasing the colors of the sun. Every now and then I caught glimpse of the sun’s highlighted reflection upon the yellow mountain trees, and I would stop to enjoy it. I had to stay sharp to keep these stops only momentarily because the pursuit of the greater beauty, that is, the actual sunrise itself, was far more moving to my purpose this morning.
Do runs get any better than this? Doubtful.
As I was running after one brief stop, I smiled because I found myself mid-metaphor for life. When we chase after the sunrises that really set our hearts on fire, we won’t notice the hills, or difficulties, that stand in our way along our pursuit. There will be times when we are distracted from our great purpose by other beautiful scenes, and there is a time and place for us to enjoy those too, but we should never lose sight or path from the goal that is set out before us. Pick your goal and pursue it with all of your might . Be prepared for mountains and distractions that will tempt you from losing focus; keep your eye on your sunrise and go find it.