keep on trucking

sun rising up the Williamsburg Bridge

my bridge runs are a habit. a daily habit in fact. a habit that began about four years ago and has been a part of my routine ever since. i pretty much start my days with a 4 mile jaunt. not too long and not too short. like subway rides, i consider bridge runs to be my lens to new york city. these interactions are the way i see the big apple from a different angle...the ways i intermingle with people on a grand scale. they make me feel part of a really big community or feel very much alone. the subway exposes me to a concentration of so many different cultures, emotions, nationalities, socioeconomic groups and more. runs allow me to breathe early morning air (or hot garbage) and feel the energies around me in my own space as the city slowly wakes up around me. running and subway rides are efficient. short and sweet. when i ride via subway, i typically exit acknowledging how efficient transportation is and how grateful i am to have a roof over my head. when i finish a run, i am usually headed elsewhere but with so many emotions that i have to stop and write down my thoughts.

the other day, the most fantastic thing happened on the run i've done daily for four years.

i fell on my face.

in the middle of the bridge.

now, falling on my face isn't such a sporadic incident. one time many moons ago, I was walking on West Broadway with Chef White and I slipped on ice and fell face down in the middle of the street. he thought about taking me to the hospital until I lifted my head up and started laughing hysterically. the point though is no matter how routine I am or how many times Ive done the same thing or how much i can plan for an outcome, there is no planning the future. there is only the possibility of outcome if you take the leap. so i did, like i do most days, and i ran the same path and i fell on my face. and i got back up, brushed myself off, giggled a little, and kept on running. the moment I fell, i was totally in my head, trucking along as fast as possible, and not cognizant of the present moment. to me, this was a reminder to always be where you are, not one step ahead or one step behind. and if you fall on your face, so be it. get back up, dust yourself off, and keep on trucking.