COMMUNITY: Appreciate grass under your own feet

Editor's note: Daren Schumaker of Cedar Rapids and Dennis Lee of Walford are attempting to run across Iowa's 99 counties to raise money for the American Heart Association. They have completed 61 counties. This is No. 60. Next: Washington.

By Daren Schumaker, community contributor

'The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.”

Each of us has either heard or used this phrase a time or two, but what does it really mean? Simply stated, this phrase means what others have or do in their lives is viewed as preferable to what you have or do in your life.

This idiom cuts both ways - it motivates us to work hard to achieve what we want and breeds a cycle of cynicism where we constantly are looking for the next best thing rather than enjoying what we've got. To figure things out, it takes perspective ... a fence ... some green grass ... and a trip to northwest Iowa.

On July 13, the day started early - real early - when we departed Cedar Rapids at 4 a.m. and began our more than five-hour drive to Osceola County, about as far north and west as you can go and still be in Iowa. With Lyon County at our back, we ran east one mile and south another mile on dusty gravel roads before we shot eastward on 230th Street and skirted the small town of Ashton before completing our fifth mile. We crossed Highway 60 (while running our 60th county), drifted north one mile to 220th Street, and settled in for the long haul toward Dickinson County.

Absent the heat and humidity, which slowly crept up on us before slapping us in the face with a high of 81 degrees, our run was unremarkable except for the beautiful green country around us. Somewhere between our 13th and 20th mile we stopped at a crossroads to refuel and encountered a local in his pickup truck. We made small talk, told him what we were up to, and commented on how beautiful the area was. In reply to the beauty of the flat green landscape, the local said 'I didn't know, I've been here my whole life.”

We marched eastward, ignorant of the perspective we had stumbled into, passing fields of corn and beans that touched the horizon in each direction. We stopped at a gravel quarry turned fishing pond and ran into and circled the even smaller town of May City, doing so just one week before the town would celebrate its 125th anniversary. Just as quickly as it started, it was over - Osceola County, No. 60 - in 26.85 miles in 3:51:02.

The fact of the matter is each of us needs to take the time to look around, but instead of looking across the fence at what appears to be something better and turning green with envy, look down at your own two feet. Although the grass surrounding your feet may not be as green as you'd like it to be, it is grass you worked hard to maintain.

Let what you see on the other side of the fence motivate you, but enjoy the grass you're standing in as you worked hard to get where you are. Take the time to look at where you're standing.

The grass isn't always greener. Things could always be better, but they also could be worse. Be proud of what you've worked for, but also be humble with the knowledge others may want what you've got and are willing to work hard to get there.

Inspiration through perspiration. Become active or make a donation to Team 99 Counties or the American Heart Association to help fight heart disease.