I became a princess for the third time last weekend by running the Disney Princess Half Marathon! But I don’t run because I love running. I run because I learn life lessons.
During my months of training, whenever I got overwhelmed with the miles I had to run, I thought about my costume. This year’s choice was a sister suffragette from Mary Poppins. I lined up at the starting corral and the lyric came to mind, “Shoulder to shoulder into the fray.”
How true.
That is something I love about running. We are not competing (at least not at my pace!). We’re in this together. We cheer each other on in the race. I feed off the crowd and my fellow runners. I want more of this experience in other areas of life too. Community is important. Togetherness is powerful. Life is a “fray”. It is difficult, challenging, grief-filled. There is a reason life is described as a battle in scripture. We can fight well, arm ourselves wisely, and run with endurance. Marching through life with a sister suffragette by your side makes a difference.
Shoulder to shoulder into the fray. So the question is: Who stands shoulder to shoulder with you in the frays of life?