Run Happy

I run because I can. I run because I want to.  I run because I love to.

I never considered myself a runner. For 16 years I was a soccer player, not a runner, but a soccer player. I used to dread running. I cringed every time I heard my coach yell at us to “take a lap.”  But my dread turned to love when I moved to New Orleans.

I remember my first run down St. Charles Ave. The sun was shining and the streetcars were rolling past me. The gusts of wind as the streetcar passed brought moments of relief on that summer day. At the end of my two-mile run, I was hot, sweaty, and exhausted, but I felt exhilarated. I was experiencing my first “runner’s high.” My love for New Orleans continued to grow as I increased my mileage. I started to really appreciate the city’s architecture and nature. I ran past cute dogs and quirky groups of people. I became my own tour guide and delved even further in the city and its unique culture.

After a few weeks in New Orleans, I called myself a runner for the first time in my 18 years of life.  I keep running because I want to feel pain that I’ve never felt before. I want to overcome obstacles that I never knew existed. I want to experience every ounce of strength and determination and passion that I put in turning into something that I can be proud of.  I keep running because cancer changed my life and I want to change someone else’s. (Read more: 4K Profile)

Each of us has the power to make a difference and each of us has the power to change someone’s life. I encourage you, my friends, get out there and use what you love to make the world a better place.  You will not regret it. 

Please visit my page here.

“If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped change. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have to the power to imagine better.” JK Rowling