Running for clean water

After running her first half-marathon, Sharon Harding poses with two of her supporters: Buddy Shuh and her daughter Kass.

By Buddy Shuh – This past weekend I went down to Detroit to support some friends who were running in the Detroit Free Press half-marathon. I had originally registered to run in it, but a knee injury side-lined me. Someone told me that over 27,000 people gathered to run this race. It was fun to cheer them on!
A big truth dawned on me once again as I watched the event. That truth: people are meant to help other people. Big shocker, right?? Yet too often we try to go at life alone. There are two typical ways that people block this life-giving truth: by refusing to receive help or by refusing to offer it.
Do you know what the refusal to ask for help is: PRIDE!! So many times when we need help in life, we ball up and say that we can do this on our own. We are strong enough. LIE! We need other people in our lives, and we need to be humble enough to pick up the phone and ask for help when we are down and out. We need to ask others to exercise with us, talk with us, and hold us accountable.
That’s not the end of the story. Once we’ve received help, we actually benefit by helping others! I recently saw a comment on social media that remarked that most of the contestants from Biggest Loser that have been successful after the show have been involved in the fitness arena professionally. Of course!! Those who help others are constantly reminding themselves of those same truths!!
I saw many groups that ran in the marathon together that reminded me of these things. The individual runners benefitted by receiving a plan to train for the marathon from their respective organizations, as well as having teammates to do  the long runs with. These groups also raised funds to support other people in need…some supported cancer research, some supported children in need, and others supported clean drinking water projects.
By receiving help from the group, the athletes benefitted and were able to run their race. Passing along some of that benefit to others in need gave them motivation to keep going, and people around the globe benefitted from their efforts. Sounds like a win-win to me!
So keep the lines of communication open. Receive help. And give it away. And come back next time when there’ll be more to the story.