running shoes

5 years ago I made the decision to start running again, but this time long distance instead of sprinting.

Looking back just buying a proper pair of running shoes seemed a novelty.

Then I ran my first half marathon, learned about myself from it. Then ran it again the next year, and learned more about myself again.

Repeat.
And again.
This year I signed up for my first full marathon. This was something I believed I could never do... but I tried and finished it!

5 years.

Sounds like a long time.
Feels a lot less.
Time has that weird quality to it.

I have learned so much, changed so much... I look back at my old self with compassion as I remember the pain that was being numbed by the bottle. The loneliness and despair hidden behind the smile. Desperate to feel something, anything... real. But the circumstances I put myself in made that impossible.

5 years.

That’s how long it took for me to heal, before I could feel. Before I got to experience emotions unfiltered. It was amazing.

So it can happen.
Things can change.
You can change.

Just never give up.

#chasingbutterflies