Well, as they say, it’s “back to the drawing board.” After taking a few days off to recover from Boston, this week has me back up and running, now in preparation for my hometown’s Thanksgiving Day Road Race.

Since I started a little later this past Tuesday morning, the sidewalks were crowded with students as I ran down College Street and passed Silliman College, Cross Campus, the New Haven Green and Old Campus.

When the path gets crowded like this, a runner has to not only watch where they’re going – but you also have to keep an eye out for others. I found myself weaving around and side-stepping folks, most of whom were walking with their heads down, eyes glued to their devices, I guess assuming, that the people around them would simply renegotiate their route or get out of the way. Before I start sounding “holier-than-thou” or a like a crochety middle-aged man complaining about the iGens, I admit I’d be doing the same exact thing if I were walking and not running. My head would be down, focused on my iPhone, emailing or texting away, confident that my steps would lead me to where I need to be and assuming that others would just get out of the way. Isn’t it amazing how it all just seems to work? All of us walking blindly on our way, each in our own little worlds and not colliding with each other in the process?

As I ran up Chapel Street and passed the Yale Art Gallery and The Study, I noticed a man noticing me. He was several strides up the sidewalk and walking towards me. His was a familiar face, as I have seen him lingering in this same general area many times before. Seeing me coming, he stopped, stepped aside, gave me the thumbs up and grinning, said “Have a Blessed Day!” Grinning back, I returned the blessing.

The words from a song by American singer-song writer, Ani DiFranco popped into my mind: “When I look down, I miss all the good stuff. When I look up, I just trip over things.”

“As Is” is one of my favorite running songs (and it’s on the summer playlist). It helps me keep my rhythm and stride, allowing my eyes to focus on the road ahead while the rest of my body follows: straight through the middle miles, up and down hills, skipping over or weaving around obstacles – or people – in my path.

There's so much that may distract us, whether we look down and see everything in our path as a potential obstacle to break us or dishearten us; or, whether we look up with our heads in the clouds and we avoid or miss the realities that are directly in front and all around us.

Just like the greeting from my friend on Chapel Street, Ani’s verse reminded me that sometimes we need to keep our eyes focused on the road ahead so that we can keep our stride, keep moving, stay awake and be ready to respond accordingly to where our attention may be needed the most. And yes, so that we are ready to even receive an unexpected blessing from a neighbor whom God may well have placed in our path.