Skip to main content

One For Fellow Writers...!

What do running and writing have in common? 

My two sons love telling jokes.  They have, in fact, become a headline act in our church's yearly talent show.  Andy Murray's favourite number?  Ten is.  His bedtime?  Ten-ish!  Such is the quality of quip featured in their annual performance.  

'What do running and writing have in common?' sounds, initially, like a question so absurd that it wouldn't be out of place in their next recital.  Running and writing?  Surely these two verbs are from such far-flung ends of the 'verbial' spectrum (sorry, a neologism was necessary there!) that they can only co-exist in a comedy line-up?

Think again!  I have long thought that running contains a limitless supply of metaphors for our spiritual lives.  It was only this morning that I began to discern its countless connections to writing too.  As I set out running this morning, for the first time in a while, after weeks of holidays, parties and indulgences,  I observed a few things about running that we would do well to heed in our writing. 

One, I reflected, was that it's really hard to get started again after a long break - but you have to start somewhere!  I could have put it off for another week, but it would have been just as hard - harder - if I had let another week elapse before I leapt into my lycra (okay, crawled into my kit is more accurate!).  When we haven't written for a while,  picking up a pen and starting out again feels hard - but as we do it,  we suddenly find ourselves in the flow again and, a few pages in, we wonder why we left it so long. 

Secondly, if we compare ourselves to others and try to keep up with them, it is tempting to give up when we've barely begun.  This is a real battle for a beginner runner - and writer - like me.  Though my two running friends declared themselves unfit and out of practice too, they soon sped ahead, leaving me pounding the pavements at my own sorrowful speed!  Beetroot red in the face, I was tempted to take a short-cut home.  But my eyes were on the end game; if I wanted to get fit,  lose weight and be healthy, the painful beginning had to be endured,  however far behind others I lagged.  Likewise with writing.  If I look enviously at the impressive CVs of other writers and compare them to my beginner's ramblings - this would be the last thing I ever wrote!  But we all have to start somewhere and it's only with patient and disciplined practice that our running and writing 'fitness levels' improve. 

Finally,  we need encouragement - so much encouragement - to keep on keeping on.  Despite my tortoise pace and my bright red face, my friends congratulated me on getting back out there, arranged another run for another week.  Our writing needs this too - someone to spur us on,  encourage us to keep doing it, even when progress is slow.  If you haven't uttered any encouragement to a fellow writer recently, make it a priority this week!  It is oxygen to a discouraged soul and may just be the nudge they need to have the courage to keep honing their God-given gift, instead of hurling their tentative scribblings onto the nearest log burner. 

So starting is hard.  Re-starting is hard. But in writing, as in running, rewards await those who set themselves in for the long haul.  So get out there!  Start writing.  Keep writing.  Stay focused on what God has given you to write, not what others are up to.  Most importantly,  be an encourager, especially cheering on those flagging at the back! Type that comment, send that text - you may be the catalyst someone needs to keep training, keep trying.  Ultimately, your five seconds of encouragement could help to keep a plodding beginner from veering off and collapsing on the side of what could be an exciting road ahead, as God anoints small beginnings and transforms them into great things for His kingdom.

Comments

  1. I've finally got around to reading this, Georgie, and I love it. I'm not a runner, but have been known to swim a few lengths. Mind you, I haven't done that for a while, so maybe I should get back to it... Thank you for the lessons about taking the plunge (for me, literally!) and re-starting, about not comparing ourselves with others, and about being encouragers. Well done for what you've written so far, and keep going. And I love your little cartoons. Now, where are my swimming trunks...? ;-)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy Birthday, Dearest Bec

Dearest Bec I can’t believe it’s your birthday and you are not here.  Every year, I rush into town, straight after Christmas, to hit the sales and buy you something you don’t really need – not your fault you were born straight after Christmas and, after all, every girl always needs more earrings, notepads, belts, recipe books.  I can’t even remember what I bought you last year, as it was such an ‘ordinary’ thing – It didn’t feel momentous or unusual, just a sister, giving her little sister her annual birthday gift. How would I have ever guessed it would be the last one I would buy for you? I’m not sure how to cope this week as, instead of eating cake together, we scatter your ashes.  I’m not sure how you continue with normal life, go to work, talk with friends, in a week like this.  I am trying to distract myself with memories filled with you, to remind myself that I will always have these, even if I no longer have you.  So here are my favourite pictures, sifted from the many

Facing Hard Things

All of us, at some point in life, will face hard things.   And by hard, I mean life-sapping, crushing, painful-beyond-imagining, hard things.   At times like these, we can look around at others, feeling bitter and angry that life’s cruel lottery has dealt us this hand and others, one that makes much better reading on Facebook.   I faced a hard thing, when my daughter, Grace, was still born at 25 weeks of pregnancy.   The road I’ve walked since has been one of doubt, hesitancy, small steps, more questions, moving forward, moving backwards, moving forward again and getting to a place of fragile healing. I was not naïve enough to think this would be my lifetime supply of ‘hard things’ and sure enough, more have come knocking – pounding down the door, in fact – in recent weeks.   None of the ‘hard things’ are yet my story to tell; they are bound up and interwoven with the lives of others, whose confidence I will not break.   It will suffice to say they are hard, life-stripping, a

Remembering Grace Again

Remembering Grace Again Grace's 'birthday' comes around so quickly. Although it's now seven years ago, the unfolding narrative of that week still plays through my mind when the anniversary comes around. Each year is different and this year I feel further forward, more healed and whole than before. Rather than being on a roller coaster of emotion as it plays out, it feels more like watching an old cine film - a bit more distanced, with the volume turned down. Still there, still sad to watch but less painful, less debilitating. Professional support in moving forward (EMDR - a recognised and highly successful approach to dealing with trauma) has played a huge part in that and I would recommend it for anyone struggling with difficult, traumatic memories. The journey and ups and downs of this year are too much and too personal to write about in detail here, but I am always happy to talk further with anyone who wants to know more. Facing and dealing with traum