Day 76: I Have a Dream

I'm paying tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. today. We will celebrate his birthday in an official capacity on Monday, Jan 18th, with a national holiday that I'm lucky enough to have off; but MLK's actual birthday was on Jan 15th, which is today. So, I'm paying respect by having my own little day of rest from training.

I'm thinking today about civil rights, segregation and equality. I'm thinking about how I run in Central Park without awareness of the color of my own, or others' skin; but maybe not everybody has the same experience. I sometimes see Black men and women training in my building, or outside; but if I really think about it, not that often. Is that because the environment feels different, less hospitable, if you don't look like me? Are there unspoken, unaddressed inequalities for people of different races and creeds in my community?

I don't know the answer to that question, but today I am going to think about it in an effort to understand how MLK's dream has progressed, and where there might still be opportunities today for furthering the civil rights movement - at least in one tiny part of the world I'm living in this year - on the running path.

I'm also going to think today about what MLK has given me, particularly. MLK has taught me many things about how one might look at the world and people, and how you get things done. He's also taught me that by simply having a dream, a tangible dream - no matter how far flung it may see at the time to others - and communicating it clearly, repeating it, and enrolling people in the dream with you, you might actually make real progress over time.

If you think different, which sometimes I do, not to be discouraged if others don't "get it" right away. Breaking it down into one, two, maximum three simple, adoptable ideas gives people a chance to get used to what you're saying slowly, in digestible bits, and over time. The end result might not be exactly what you had envisioned at the beginning, and like in MLK's case, you might not even be there to see things come to fruition; but passion, conviction, integrity, and persistence... waking up and putting the shoes on every day, or whatever you're trying to work on, is the most powerful way to drive towards real transformation.

Thank you, Doctor King.