Cool Moms Care

Take time to notice the world around you.

It wasn’t the first time.

I’ve lost a number of iPods over the years. In fact, my most recent Shuffle is named Lazarus because it has risen from the dead so many times.

I’m one of those runners who can’t seem to run well without music in the background, and so I never leave home for a run without my iPod Shuffle. Naturally, I made sure to grab my iPod this last Saturday when I headed out to Percy Warner for a long run.

I parked in the field by the park, grabbed my headphones, iPod, and car key and got out to stretch. When I looked down, though, the Shuffle wasn’t in my hand. I opened the car, looked under the seats, on the floorboard, under jackets, in cup holders- but the iPod was nowhere to be found.

Frustrated, I said words I won’t even dare write in this column because my editor will delete them, and I started crawling furiously in the grass around the car looking for the small, silver Shuffle, much to the amusement of those watching me.

I finally gave up and abandoned the search. I opened the car and threw my now useless headphones inside.

Another Shuffle mysteriously bites the dust.

I took off toward the park and tore off onto the Warner Woods Trail, figuring that the terrain of the trail would keep my mind from missing music. As soon as I started to run, I didn’t miss the music, but I began to take notice of different sounds: the crunch of the leaves beneath my feet and the steady breaths coming from my lungs- sounds I missed when I had my earphones in. I looked into the beautiful forest around me and noticed the way the sunlight peered through the trees and how the forest floor was now covered with a colorful blanket of fall leaves. I felt the warmth of the sun on my face and noticed the way my feet hit the ground. In short, I became thankful for such a place to run and play and grateful for the abundance of natural beauty we as Nashvillians have at our fingertips.

Does it really take losing an iPod to notice the music playing naturally all around us?

Tired but energized by what I’d rediscovered, I made my way back to car. Sure enough, there was my Shuffle, standing upright and glistening in the sun, right next to my car door- there was no way I could have missed it.

Had it been there the whole time? Maybe. But maybe God borrowed it to make sure I took note of something better, and I have never been more grateful to lose something I thought I needed so much.

- Mary Cady Bolin