I (almost) fell off the treadmill.

Cities typically have several cultural norms that a large portion of the population take part in. These norms often define perception of the location and are visible in the public eye. People in Dallas shop, and residents of California sunbathe. In my almost two years of living here, I have begun to notice something about people in Tulsa.

They run.

I'm not talking running to the mailbox to grab the mail or running into someone's open arms at the airport. I'm talking half-marathon, full marathon, wake up at 5:30 am to train every day dedication kind of running.

I, no matter how much I would like to be, was not born with the mental stamina to become a part of the sunrise stampede on the Riverside Trails. I have set goals, downloaded phone apps, and even bought (overpriced) new shoes, but somewhere down the line, I came or am coming to the realization that I don't want to run a marathon and probably never will (though, I wholeheartedly admire all those who do).

To supplement the running I am not doing outdoors, I try to make a daily (that's generous) trip to the gym located conveniently across the parking lot in my apartment complex. There, being a creature of habit, I set down my jacket and keys on the floor by the first treadmill, step on the track, and set the speed to approximately 3.2 (whatever distance measurement increment that is), and I begin to walk.

There are several things I love about treadmills, one being that I don't have to pay attention to where I am going and can walk without the fear of running into a mailbox, a tree, or even worse another human being (I take all measures in every day life to avoid any kind of embarrassment). That being said and that fear being removed, treadmills open up a world of opportunity in the area of multitasking.

Most days I generally walk for half an hour or so before I (attempt to) run. After I set my initial walking speed on the machine, I continue  in my routine. I put in my headphones and set my iPhone to one of my favorite Pandora stations (Ron Pope and Chris Rice are ranking high in my books lately). Once I am done skipping the first few songs on the playlist, I open the book I am reading at the time and flip to the bookmarked page. Then, I walk (and listen and read).

Reading and walking is a lot easier and more relaxing you would think. To be honest, if I had to choose between the two, the book would be the paper in a rock vs. paper scenario every time. I find some kind of motivation to walk in knowing I'll get to crack open a good read. It's killing two birds with one stone (I hate that expression).

Typically, the two treadmills to my left are unoccupied. I have read my way through several books, and listened to hours of music, all while walking without a single issue. Someone once told me that multitasking is impossible. A couple of weeks ago, as I walked, that thought crossed my mind, and I laughed a little, thinking I was proving them wrong.

I shouldn't have laughed so soon. When I walked into the gym last week, several factors should have forewarned me of what was to come. First of all, my treadmill was taken. The only available machine was sandwiched between two fast paced runners. I reluctantly chose that machine and began my routine. Second of all, the TV was on at a volume my headphones could not block out. I turned up the volume on my phone, opened my book and began to walk. Within five minutes, I found myself turning to my left toward the runner in my peripheral vision and then up to the TV as I heard a familiar voice. Before I knew it , I was losing my footing, and, while trying to catch my book I was dropping, I made a rather ungraceful trip, let out a gasp, and luckily caught my balance before I turned into an embarrased wreck. Perhaps I wasn't as proficient at multitasking as I had once thought.

Though I had no problem piling two other tasks on top of walking on the treadmill's path on a typical day, the moment something entered my peripheral vision, I lost the ability to effectively follow the clear, straight, and unobstructed path in front of me.

God has given us all a path to follow, a track by which to run the race of the Christian walk He has laid before us. Just like my daily trips to the gym, we begin to follow the path as a singular task. However, slowly but surely, we begin to add our own tasks and shift focus to them, confident we can both meet our agendas and stay on track in our walk with Christ at the same time. We build relationships that further ourselves.We seek to move up in our careers. We fill our schedules to the brim just for the sake of being busy.

On a typical day, this usually doesn't have an apparent effect on our walk with Christ. Sometime between getting ready for work, beating the rush hour traffic, and reading up on the latest celebrity gossip, we slip in prayer or a quiet time, ask the Lord to direct our paths, and then place our focus back on ourselves.

Too often though, our days aren't typical. Life shows up in our peripheral vision, and the world's demands begin screaming in our ears. Family members get sick. We fail to meet that deadline. We go through heartache. People let us down. And before we know it, we lose our footing and find ourselves in a dishelved mess clearly off the path God has laid out for us. We expect to reap the full benefits of walking with Christ even though we aren't placing our full focus on Him.

Hebrews 12:1-2a "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith."
  
Instead of fixing our eyes on Jesus, we fix our eyes on ourselves and those things we decide are important and too often find ourselves easily entangled. However, just as we can be easily entangled, we can easily stay on track by following Paul's instructions to persevere and fix our eyes upon Him. 

This doesn't mean we cut everything out of our lives. It means we shift our focus. Shift the focus of your activities and thoughts to bringing glory to the Creator. Stop focusing on yourself and look at the path He has placed right under your feet. 

As history would have it. Life still happens. We are greeted with the unexpected to our right and our left. However, with our eyes focused on the singular path and goal of the glorifying God, we will be way less likely to lose our footing. Though distractions still come along, we will be able to stay steady, knowing that an all knowing, never changing consistent Savior has given us the very path beneath our feet.