Wet & Windy !

Well, I did my long run today after a full on few days with work... It was an exhilarating run at times, with gale force winds and driving rain... running along the top of the South Downs and trying not to get blown over is something that I think everyone should do at least once in their lives ! When I'm running I don't listen to music (I found that I couldn't always hear it above the wind anyway) so I have a lot of time to think. Today I was thinking about the events of 9/11 and where I was ten years ago, not just the location but where I was as a person in my life. A lot has happened in ten years, a career change and taking up running are just two things that have changed. But what has also changed is our society, it seems that working to achieve something is no longer popular. With the advent of immediate celebrity status it seems that you no longer need to have any talent to be an overnight "celebrity" and we are in danger of bringing up a whole generation that thinks having money and possessions are the most important things in life. When the planes hit the twin towers the people that ran for their lives didn't stop to pick up their designer handbags, they weren't worried about their latest "gadget", al of a sudden how much money you had was no longer important. What was important was the people that they loved and one of the most poignent things were the phone calls and answerphone messages left for loved ones. People who didn't know if they were going to live or die wanted the people in their lives to know how much they loved and cared for them. Some events in the world really do change the way that you look at life. This was one of them. I remember where I was that day, watching the events unfold, I knew that the world would never be quite the same again. I doubt that I am the only person that stopped and took a look at my own life, I think that this really did make me reassess what I wanted to achieve in life, I haven't achieved it all yet but I'm getting there.... I appreciate what I have, and my health far more than I have ever done before. It is this that lets me run, lets me see this amazing country that we live in, watch the changing seasons and the sheer beauty and power of nature. I don't mind the wind, rain, sleet or snow; feeling it as I run really is exhilarating and makes me appreciate the dry and warmth of home even more :)