What would it take for you to

Go Further,

Jump Higher,

Love Deeper?

Even when you are hurt?

How about a little fearless fun?

I used to run – a lot. I didn’t run fast, but I ran far.

Then sometime last year I developed a chronic hip pain.

So, I did what any woman would do – I ran through the pain.

Eventually I ran slower and slower. The pain I so desperately wanted to ignore was catching up to me.

Then one day I couldn’t even get out of bed – Seriously! (Fortunately my husband came to the rescue!)

Am I the only one guilty of this?

Haven’t we all at one time or another pushed the pain down, just hoping it would one day disappear?

I’m talking about ALL pain here.

Sometimes we don’t even know what caused it – we just hurt;

Sometimes we do. Like relationships.

Sometimes we keep running and other times we just quit altogether, out of fear –

fear of hurting again.

I did that. I couldn’t determine what caused the pain originally, but I knew what made it worse!

For instance, if I sat for long periods of time the pain was excruciating, often back to the point of being stuck in bed.

After a weekend road trip I had to regretfully turn down the opportunity to visit with a long time friend simply because the thought of getting back in a car for another long drive brought with it fear of the accompanying pain.

Eventually, a friend, hearing of my plight, suggested stretching.

She knew what to do because she had experienced a similar pain.

Let the stretching begin.

Stretching in itself can be a semi-painful experience.

It is taking something beyond its comfort level. We all have one.

But then a miracle happens; you begin to move beyond your former capability.

Stretching leads to flexibility ( a valuable trait).

Learning to stretch myself out of the pain was such a joyous experience!  I was able to freely enjoy a long anticipated, active vacation.

My friend walked me through several different stretches for various areas of potential pain (or discomfort).

Stretching is great prevention too!

I was able to have so much fun! Free from the fear of being hurt again.

How  about you? Are you hurting; is there pain in your life you have tried to push down?

The people closest to me were more upset that I hadn’t even mentioned I was hurting,

How can someone help if they don’t know?

Find a friend to help you stretch through it so you too will be able to run, jump and love in fearless fun!