Look beneath the surface

On yesterday morning's run I completed three and a half years of running a mile a day.

I'm pleased to report that, despite a few challenges, so far I've managed to run at least a mile on every one of my 1,277 days.

Running with my partner yesterday morning, she directed me down a path in the woods that I'd never been down before. This path took me into a really pretty parts of these woods, into an area I'd never seen before.

What might sound surprising is that the entrance to these woods is .1 of a mile from where I start my daily run, and despite running a mile every day for the last three and a half years I had never taken this path.

I've tended to avoid running in these woods mainly because the entrance is pretty dark and the ground underfoot is invariably muddy no matter what the weather is like.

Now I've suddenly realised that if I'd been prepared to explore a little I would have discovered an altogether unexpected and lovely parts of these woods.

At about a mle and a half my newly discovered route is perfect as one of my variations for my morning mile, and it's an opportunity to keep my running fresh and to provide some additional variety to my morning runs.

And of course there may be other routes within the woods that I have yet to discover.

I've always considered myself to be open-minded and creative, but this discovery has been a life lesson for me.

Where else might I be missing an opportunity that is right in front of me but I've failed to go past the dark and muddy veneer on the surface to find out what lies within?

As Marcus Aurelius said many years ago. "Look beneath the surface; let not the several quality of the thing nor its worth escape thee".