Home is Where the Heart is

For many of us, there are at least a few times in the year when we run for our own survival. Whether it is an argument with our spouse, lover, children, or the latest talking head on the television, something has enraged us. If we don't get our running shoes on quickly and get out of the door, we'll either say or do something we'll regret.

It feels good to burn off that energy in a good strong run — and we need to be careful that in our hi-fuel mood we still make time to do all we can to preserve our long-term running health by warming up a little (even if it feels like we are burning up already!).

"I just need to get out of the house!" is the feeling, isn't it? Yet, often just the run itself seems to soothe us and when we return to the same house—the one that we just HAD to get out of—and we see it differently. Somehow, somewhere along our run, that "house" became, once again, our "home."

How is that? Well, as the old saying goes, home is where the heart is. And as we run, we often rediscover the majesty, tranquility, and peace of our hearts. I think, deep down, it is why most of us run—it's the fastest route many of us know to the very best of who we are.

Of course, this transformation of how we see our home/house, or indeed any part or all of the rest of the world, does not need to be reserved for those "survival runs." In fact, I find some of my most powerful running meditations begin with focusing on the destination of my run, which is also the starting point—my home!

Where do I want to return to? I ask myself as I warm up. What do I want to focus on when I return? Do I want to focus on the irritation about the dishes in the sink, the lock on the door that needs fixing, or that bag of diapers that needs to be dealt with? Or do I want to focus on the gratitude I have for the wife and daughter I live with, the love we share, and the joy we often create amongst us.

As you run today, focus on the home you want to return to as you run—the experience you want to live in when you return home. With each step, bring that vision alive in your heart, feel it strengthening and expanding as you run. You are a home builder—you are the architect of your experience of your home, your world, your life. You get to choose how you are on the inside and then carry that with you into your outer world.

I sometimes think, as I am running, of November 4, 1979, when American embassy officials in Tehran began a hostage experience that lasted 444 days. The must have often wondered if they would ever go home at all. As I run, I imagine that if I was separated from my family for more than 15 months, even that diaper bag could be smelling pretty good to me when I returned—a simple representation of life and shared living that I'd have wondered if I would ever return to.

Sometimes we hold ourselves hostage in rage, judgment, or some other strong feeling much longer than we need to. Hence our survival runs.

When we get beyond survival and step into creativity, we discover that we can create the home that we want to experience much more effectively by building it in ourselves first—in the territory of our hearts, upon a foundation built of acceptance, compassion, and loving.