A crisp early fall morning; the sun bright as can be, forces its way through my window shades. I feel goose bumps rise as the cool air hits my skin entering from the open window. Okay, time to get up! I say to myself to try and furnish some motivation for myself to get on with my day. The list of things I have to do today could fill a book, and although I am not a morning person I really should get on with it. The thought of the deadlines I have to meet are banging against the walls inside of my skull and building up pressure from the tips of my toes up.

It’s okay, you got the whole day ahead of you. I pick out a pair of Nike running shorts and one of my classic high school t-shirts and toss them on in replace of what I wore to bed last night. I free my hair of the knots and tangles that came from the comfort and coziness of my freshly escaped bed, and pull it all neatly back into a ponytail and then slowly into a braid. I search through my basket of hundreds of headbands before finding just the right one to match with the rest of my outfit. I head over to the bathroom and freshen up. After one splash of cool water onto my face, I look up at myself in the mirror and take a deep breath. Sigh! My eyes are immediately drawn to the massive zit on my forehead. Yup, that’s definitely from that homework I am currently struggling on. The stress of a full-time student really shows up on your face after a while.

Quickly, I snap out of my daze and finish up in the bathroom before strapping on my running shoes and finally skirt out the door. One of the best stress relievers is running, because for as long and as far as you run, your mind is able to find relief. I walk to the main entrance of my college campus and look ahead at the road. The new fall wind is creeping through my scalp and I clear my head. I take a deep breath and before I know it I feel my legs lift one after the other and the motion becomes natural.

With each step, the feeling of my feet hitting the ground, I feel my legs start to wake up from the previous nights rest. My knees creak shortly until they get used to the exercise. My arms naturally bounce with the motion of my legs and my braided ponytail sways against my back from side to side. I take another deep breath as I try to regulate my breathing to a beat. In my nose, out my mouth, I think to myself before it becomes normal. As I continued on my run, my heart beats fast and I feel my chest release my worries and stresses.

I feel my head start to clear…or maybe it is the sweat starting to crack from my brow. Aside from thoughts of how tired I am, how far I have gone, and how long I have been running, I start to think of better things. I think of what kind of coffee I’m going to order to kick off my day, what will I eat for breakfast, what my game plan is for all this homework I have to do today, the brighter side of my work…I’m almost done, right?, how later tonight I can hang out with my friends worry free, how tomorrow I will be able to kick back on the couch with my pup, how I will be eating a home cooked meal, how I will enjoy the comfort and company of my family, and how I will just feel so much better when I am done.

With each thought and each casual breath, I forget I am running and forget that I am stressed out of my mind. My mind finds relief, as I am able to match solutions to my uncertainties. For with the fall wind drifting through me, and the release of each doubtful thought tangled within my breaths, I am able to break free of the stress for how ever long and how ever far I choose to run.