Rolling Stone

Beat. Step. Beat. Step. Beat. Step. Chorus. Step. My steps were in synch with the music. Green headphones I found through trial and error ignored the sweat dripping into their little musical ports and continued to pump out the melodies I mouthed or shouted during my trek. Schoolchildren clad in red shirts and khaki shorts scattered from my path as I continued to jog, run and sprint. The beat helped me find my pace, helped me find my path, helped me think. And my thoughts were random and crazy. Concrete and asphalt paved the train of thoughts which came and went.

Future plans falling in place to the beat of the run. Post military activities formed a little layout in my head. Each step hammered down another point of focus. Another stage in my plan. Beat. I would travel to New York for a week. Step. I would move to Dallas. Step. I’ll complete personal trainer certification and the Texas Alcohol Bureau Certification exam. Beat. My move to San Diego will come shortly after. Yes. Chorus.

Faster and slower, ebbing and flowing my own tide, I passed things of no consequence. Discarded bottles hidden in tall blades of grass. Hundreds traveling to unknown destinations. Bird and sun and wind and sky. Everything I passed was insignificant. Meaningless. Trivial in comparison to my own thoughts.

The running wasn’t what helped level things though. It was motion. Movement. Travel. All of it brought a sense of euphoria. It always has. The simplest drive through directionless streets left me feeling alive and refreshed. Cross continent flights and last minute tactical landings forced a grin onto my face unparalleled by any conventional means. A long distance run in a giant loop? Same effect. I just chose the activity that coupled exercise with decision making. And it worked. My future perfect lay in a simple track, piece by piece.

Step by step. Just a matter of time until I ran out its course. The first stage of which will come in but only a few days. My legal, and no longer contractual, separation of service from the Active Duty military. T - 6. And counting. Beat by beat.