Life and the Boardwalk

After my real estate appointments yesterday I stopped at the boardwalk on my way home. It's a place I am very familiar with. It's a place I've gone to hundreds of times the past 4+ years to run, exercise, bike, walk, write, and reflect. Yesterday was unique in the sense that it was very desolate. I reflected back on the past 4 years and how much my life has changed. I thought about the people that have come in and out of my life and what it's all meant. My Long Beach experiences the past four years have been priceless and have really changed my life. I feel like a part of me is somehow embedded in that boardwalk and in that town. I started coming to Long Beach in 2000. I was dating someone from there and the Long Beach experience was all new to me. I grew up and lived about 20 miles east of Long Beach, in totally different surroundings. I loved the fact that you could walk from your house to the beach, the small town feel, the sense of community, the nightlife, the convenience of everything, and just the overall atmosphere. I have lived through some of the highest and lowest points of my life while in Long Beach and I suppose that's why I feel so attached to it. It's a part of me and who I am now.

In many ways running that 2.2 mile(each way) stretch of boardwalk is symbolic of my life the past four years. Sometimes the wind has been at my back and it has pushed me along, sometimes it has blown right in my face and has held me back, at times it was an easy run and I felt great, sometimes it has been a struggle. When you come to the bend at each end of the boardwalk, you never know what's around that bend. Sometimes a crazy bicyclist comes out of nowehere and almost runs you down, sometimes a friendly and familiar face greets you. As in life, you sometimes are excited about what waits for you around that bend and other times you are afraid or anxious about what awaits. When I finish the 2.2 mile length of the boardwalk, I head back and do it all over again. As in life, sometimes we start over and retrace our steps. We may run faster or slower and hopefully we learn from the mistakes we made the last 2.2 miles. Some days the weather was great and I felt on top of the world looking out at that ocean and never wanted to stop running, other days I got caught in a storm and just wanted shelter from it and just wanted out of the "race." I've run with friends and loved ones on that stretch of boards and I've run it alone.

I hope I have many more "miles" to go both in life and in Long Beach. In the race known as my life, I carry with me the love and joy of people in my life now, the memory of people who have gone, and thoughts of those who I may still cross paths with. I run with enthuisiasm, looking ahead while admiring the things around me. I must admit, sometimes I do look back to see where I have been so i can be thankful for where I am now.