I run. I run away. I look for greener grass. I’ve done it for as long as I can remember.

I learned at an early age to be ready to take flight at any moment. My natural response to being hurt by someone is to run. Leave. Get away as fast as possible. I bought into the lie that the next place, person, whatever would be better than the last.

Not true.

While people are different and unique, we’re all the same. We all hurt, we all sin.

Somehow I learned that life was all about me…that I was different. I learned to be the victim. The thought never crossed my mind that I hurt people too. It never crossed my mind that people stuck through friendship with me when I hurt them.

The realization hit me in my early thirties: I hurt people probably as much as I feel hurt by others. That’s when it hit me that many have stuck with me through situations when, if reversed, I would’ve run from them.

I’ve learned that the grass is usually not greener and prettier someplace else. I’ve learned that people are just people. I’ve learned that it’s often worth it to trudge through mudiness. I’ve learned it’s better to stay and work through a matter than to run. And I’ve learned that this is a hard lesson to apply when I’m prone to run…