Day 4: Count-Down to the Marathon

Navigational Art and Directions By Colleen Yorke, © 2015.

The dynamics of friendship are mysterious, unquantifiable and unexplainable. Muhammad Ali once said, "Friendship is the hardest in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you've not learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything." From Winnie the Pooh to the Little Prince even to Tom & Jerry, friends as different as peas and carrots "represent a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." Our friends are there for us through thick and thin, for better and for worse.

The conventional wisdom is that we choose friends because of who they are. But in reality we love them because they accept and support the way we are - scars, cracks and all. In my life, I am fortunate to call people from all walks of life as friends. Last night as I found myself surrounded with like-minded, kindred spirits, it suddenly occurred to me that these runners I see at least twice weekly, are not just folks I run with. They are one of the reasons I run, they are my friends. They are people I love affectionately and trust deeply. It matters to me how they are, it matters to me what they think, and having them in my life has made me richer for it.

With only four days away from the marathon, our emotions certainly off-balance, our body very confused of what we plan to do with it now - wait, carb loading and no running?!, it is important to remember what gives meaning to our lives. These past few weeks I certainly have discovered the beauty of being "sure" of someone. We can not explain the phenomenon, but we feel the force of what it means to have friends. True friends are the dark matter of our lives.