Something In Common

Some mid-week musings from the weekend ... I helped a handful of folks for two hours at a “pop up” water station Saturday 6am-8am. Water and some sport / electrolyte mix. Nothing special.

Many runners & walkers came by ... and I asked exactly the same questions to each when they arrived. How far are you in? How far to go? What struck me was the varied responses. Some had just started, some were 10 miles in. Some had an exact plan for their day / morning, some had no idea how far they’d go that morning. Some were tired and kinda slept in, some got after it hard & early.

I also helped some walkers and non-runners. Some had homes or jobs to head to. Some didn’t. Some spoke a lot (one saying, “I got very dehydrated last weekend and just got out of the hospital, thank you”), some didn’t. Some vaped and bragged of just getting out of jail. Some opened up with prayer requests of sick family members. Some agreed with me that “God is still good, yes?”, some didn’t.

This was two hours. Two. On a Saturday morning. Not a bustling time of day. Calm & mostly quiet. The sun climbing for more heat that day. What’s my point in this? I have two ideas that I’ve been thinking about since Saturday ...

#1) not everybody is out there for the same reason or goal. Not all runners have the same reason(s) for getting out the door. Some are fighting different fights and running different plans than others; some are winging it. Not all wandering downtown are the same. Some are on drugs and dangerous and many are certainly not. Some are incredibly thankful for their glass of water, some I couldn’t tell. Some I’d like to talk to longer, some I wouldn’t feel safe alone in an alley. So I’d like to assume not all that vote red or blue or neither or don’t vote or are undecided are doing so for the same reason(s). Takeaway: At our core we are all incredibly complex and broken people, not statistics.

#2) There are a handful of things in this life that are universal and will be common among us all. Water is certainly one of them. This got us talking. What else is common? Takeaway: Start with what you have in common.