Not Alone

It’s amazing; I actually woke up in time to run the Celebration of Running 5K on Sunday. I know it’s hard to believe. But I’m glad I did, it was a perfect day for it. It was almost cool (for FL this time of year anyway), and hardly humid at all. There were about 1,650 of us running/walking in this event, but it was two people at the end of the race that made a difference to me.

Most of the time I try to encourage co-workers and friends to walk or run these 5K’s with me. It’s more fun to see familiar faces along the way. So after I finished the 3 mile jaunt, I sat near the finish line to see if the regulars from my office actually made it out. I never saw anyone from work but it was at about the 55 min. mark when two people came trotting around the last corner. It was a young boy, maybe ten years old or so, and what looked like his mom. They were both tired but as the mom ran up behind her son she encouraged him by saying ‘almost done, we’ll finish together.’ He smiled as she took his hand and they ran the last few hundred yards side by side.

I don’t know why that made such a difference to me, but it did. Maybe it’s because I watched one too many Nooma videos Friday night or maybe it’s because I understand how it feels to be where that boy was. It seems like a long, hot race, so many people have finished ahead of you; you’re tired and sore and just want to be done. Then you are encouraged by someone near you and you realize you’re not alone.

It reminded me of the Christian song that has a bridge with these words: ‘and even though I feel so lonely, like I have never been before, You never said it would be easy, You only said I’d never go alone.’

It’s nice to feel inspired and encouraged every now and then. It allows you to have a reference to come back to when everything else is crappy.

That’s all I really have to say about that.

Compliment or Complete?

Maybe it’s about semantics or maybe perception. None the less, it’s an issue that’s debated. I don’t know if it matters all that much but I had a conversation with someone a few months back on this topic that ended up changing our relationship.

So the question is (in the relationship sense - where you are ‘more than friends’) are you looking for someone who ‘completes’ you or ‘compliments’ you? Let me expound on that for a second.

By complete I mean the whole “you complete me” Jerry McGuire moment. I mean, there’s a hole in my life that I need you to fill in order to be complete. Complete, as I understand the word to mean, is something that is whole, a project that is done, a thing that lacks nothing. Complete, finished, done, perfect.

Compliment, in this discussion, does not mean expressing praise. It’s more like added value. For example, in a meal the wine compliments the entrée. In compliment, one person brings out the best qualities in the other person.

I’m trying to write this from an objective perspective, but since it’s something I feel strongly about, I believe I have failed. So I’ll just tell you what my take on this topic is. I am independent, I am complete on my own, and I don’t need a man (or woman) to make me ‘perfect.’ I think that saying you, as an individual, are incomplete is kind of an insult and I don’t think God made us incomplete. In the same sense, I don’t think God intended for us to be alone (necessarily, but that’s a different blog altogether). Personally, I'm looking for someone who compliments me. A person who brings out my best qualities and helps improve my worst. I'm looking for a someone who's personality meshes with mine in such a way that allows me to be an individual while encouraging me to grow.

In the past I believed my view to be pretty much what the majority thought. Then I had a conversation with someone that was my age who completely disagreed with me. So now I’m curious to find out what you guys think about this relationship issue. (That means give me feed back!) Even though you know my stance on this, I still want honest input whether it be agreeing, disagreeing or other.

Thanks!