Day 1065 -- Gracious Runner
I had a very long run to do this afternoon, so I decided to take Goose with me for some company.
Now Goose is an excellent running dog. Even though she is only 8 months old, she is learning to heel and to pace herself.
Normally I would take her for about 1/2 of my long run, so that she doesn't do more than about 7.5 miles, but she seemed especially rambunctious today, so I decided to see how far she could go.
The answer was well over 15 miles.
She made it the whole run and had energy to spend, still bounding around like a bunny at the end.
It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, however. At one point during the run, she caught sight of another runner before I did, and jerked the leash out of my hands before I even knew what had happened. Goose in her often-misdirected friendliness made a beeline for the other runner, hoping to say hi and get a few pats. I yelled for her to come back and she stopped -- just feet away from the other runner.
I sprinted up to Goose, apologizing profusely to the runner for my dog's bad behavior. To my surprise, the runner just sat down on the road and put her arms out for Goose to come say hello with a huge smile on her face.
How gracious and kind of this person. She wasn't angry, even though she had every right to be. She wasn't even short. She was friendly and forgiving.
I want to be more like that. I'm ashamed to admit, that if a loose dog was after me, I wouldn't have a smile on my face and I probably wouldn't have been friendly to its owner. I have to believe that life can be a much happier place when you can be as gracious as this runner was tonight. After all, what is the use of being a sour puss about something so trivial? Her simple gesture of kindness really put things in perspective for me. I am thankful for the lesson she taught me, and I thought about it for the rest of my run.
That is, when I wasn't telling Goose to "Heel!"
Thank God for a gracious runner!
Lord, thank you for the lesson you taught me through this kind and generous runner tonight. Thank you for a good run and for my silly, wonderful dog. In your name I pray, Amen.
Now Goose is an excellent running dog. Even though she is only 8 months old, she is learning to heel and to pace herself.
Normally I would take her for about 1/2 of my long run, so that she doesn't do more than about 7.5 miles, but she seemed especially rambunctious today, so I decided to see how far she could go.
The answer was well over 15 miles.
She made it the whole run and had energy to spend, still bounding around like a bunny at the end.
It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, however. At one point during the run, she caught sight of another runner before I did, and jerked the leash out of my hands before I even knew what had happened. Goose in her often-misdirected friendliness made a beeline for the other runner, hoping to say hi and get a few pats. I yelled for her to come back and she stopped -- just feet away from the other runner.
I sprinted up to Goose, apologizing profusely to the runner for my dog's bad behavior. To my surprise, the runner just sat down on the road and put her arms out for Goose to come say hello with a huge smile on her face.
How gracious and kind of this person. She wasn't angry, even though she had every right to be. She wasn't even short. She was friendly and forgiving.
I want to be more like that. I'm ashamed to admit, that if a loose dog was after me, I wouldn't have a smile on my face and I probably wouldn't have been friendly to its owner. I have to believe that life can be a much happier place when you can be as gracious as this runner was tonight. After all, what is the use of being a sour puss about something so trivial? Her simple gesture of kindness really put things in perspective for me. I am thankful for the lesson she taught me, and I thought about it for the rest of my run.
That is, when I wasn't telling Goose to "Heel!"
Thank God for a gracious runner!
Lord, thank you for the lesson you taught me through this kind and generous runner tonight. Thank you for a good run and for my silly, wonderful dog. In your name I pray, Amen.
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