5K Race-1, Me-0

Disclosure: some years back before I was married, I participated in a charity 5K race [Actual Full Disclosure: I was trying to impress a girl who was into running; in hindsight, I can attest that wise outcomes seldom follow these sorts of motivations]. I had hopes of clocking a decent (ie ... impressive to the girl) time. Even though it was my first 5K, I thought the race would be a cinch.

Nope.

For starters, the solitary bowl of stale corn flakes cereal I hurriedly consumed beforehand (because I overslept) wasn't near enough to sustain me.

Secondly, the evening before the race, I stood up as a groomsmen in a dear friend's wedding. So my nutritional intake ... diverged (shall we say) from the norm. Catered, high-sugar food; boiled shrimp and crab dip galore; celebratory glass of champagne; subsequent toasts to the bridge and groom to follow; all-night reception dancing in rented shoes; (certainly) not drinking enough water; ears ringing from the music.

"I should've gotten to sleep earlier, but it'll be OK," I told myself as I crawled into bed mere hours before the 8AM race. "How rough could it get?"

Rough.

Atrocious finish time. "I didn't realize a 5K could feel this long!" I wheezed. I felt so [EDIT] hungry. And bleary tired -- coffee could not put me right.

[And yes, for those wondering, of course the girl I longed to impress finished ahead of me. Way, way ahead of me. I tried to console myself by thinking that perhaps her spirit was moved by my gallant effort to slough through this impossible event, though I knew this scenario also seemed improbable.]

Trouble is, I just wasn't thinking about cause-and-effect. I thought of myself as able to get the outputs I wanted, regardless of inputs. How often do you sometimes live as though you're cobbled together this way?

Turns out that the way we're created, all that comes together and stays woven together.

When Scripture talks of growing in wisdom, it always includes growing in the relational sense of who God is, and how we are to enjoy God. But there's more. It's not limited to that though. We also incorporate wise living into our routines, to make less challenging the pursuit of wise, loving, and Godly matters.

Our emotional/spiritual/overall health never untethers from what we eat/when we eat. Sleep? It's forever influenced by that too. It's connected by how and when we pray, what/when we consume for entertainment/news, what physically surrounds us, our friends/family, and their moods. 

It's just how we're created. 

It's OK to be reminded of this ... everyone needs reminders. Maybe this is some of why we're advised to think about stuff that's pure, right, true, lovely, admirable, praiseworthy ... it affects everything else we have going on.

With life experience, we grow in discerning this, which is truly happy news. Instead of disconnected quadrants, we begin to see ourselves as an adapting layout of pulleys, levels, buttons and switches ... you don't know what all the switches do or exactly how everything works, but you're learning all the time that it's all connected.

Take heart, friends ... getting wiser in these ways takes the slow pace of time for everyone. As for me, if I should ever choose to participate in a race again, at least I know some of what not to do beforehand -- and that's not a bad place to start.