This morning running on my hotel treadmill, I was struck by the realization that I, an avid, outdoor runner, had just traded in my all time favorite pastime for this: Running on a treadmill in a stinky, warm, hotel gym? I traded the open road in perfect Washington summer weather for this? Am I nuts? Is the treadmill not the very essence of the hamster wheel: running, running, running and getting nowhere…fast?
One of the many reasons that I wanted our family to make this move to Abu Dhabi was to get off the proverbial “Hamster wheel” and get into a new groove. And here I am on it, but not in the same way. Is it better, worse, the same? I am not sure yet. It is too soon to tell.
I guess I’ll keep running on this treadmill, at least until fall when the temperatures here get down into the 70s. Then, perhaps, I can get off the wheel and back on the open road. I do all my thinking and creating while I am running. It is the only time of day when I am not talking to someone. Perhaps it doesn’t really matter where I run as long as I am just doing it? Could the same be true for where I live?