I am the superhero of myself. I’m the one that forces myself to run in the cold rain when I don’t feel like it, or when my body is tired and aching. I’m the one that tells myself to back off when my leg feels like it’s full of broken shards, or my back is stabbing me with pain, and then I am the little voice that says it’s time to get back up again. I’m the one that tells myself to keep going when my legs are on fire, and my lungs are bursting. I take responsibility for this life to give myself every chance to be healthy and happy. I’m the advocate of me. I am the one that shuts down the words of those who have said harmful things that would destroy me. I turn off the video reels of the past, and protect myself from the world of disappointment. And I have hated you. I’ve been critical of you, feared you, and avoided you. That world that crushed my lips in a cruel embrace, that stabbed my back with a steely blade, that spit on my face and beat me with bony fists. You spoke with a surly snarl to bring me down, and laughed at my demise. But now as I run through this rain, I see you walking by and I love you. I love all of you, because today I am Superman, and I run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I am the superhero of myself. I’m the one that forces myself to run in the cold rain when I don’t feel like it, or when my body is tired and aching. I’m the one that tells myself to back off when my leg feels like it’s full of broken shards, or my back is stabbing me with pain, and then I am the little voice that says it’s time to get back up again. I’m the one that tells myself to keep going when my legs are on fire, and my lungs are bursting. I take responsibility for this life to give myself every chance to be healthy and happy. I’m the advocate of me. I am the one that shuts down the words of those who have said harmful things that would destroy me. I turn off the video reels of the past, and protect myself from the world of disappointment. And I have hated you. I’ve been critical of you, feared you, and avoided you. That world that crushed my lips in a cruel embrace, that stabbed my back with a steely blade, that spit on my face and beat me with bony fists. You spoke with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-stories"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p32u0F-gx","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1068,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=1068","url_meta":{"origin":1025,"position":0},"title":"The Pictures of You","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"February 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was fourteen we made a self portrait in art class. The teacher gave us a little mirror, told us to look at our face, and draw what we saw. I sat down and went to work. 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He moved in six years ago. I then had to ask myself how that\u2019s possible. The answer is pretty weird. The reason is that I shun all my neighbors, because I fear them. When I was fourteen,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":622,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=622","url_meta":{"origin":1025,"position":2},"title":"Pirates of the Crimson Sand\u2014Review","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"July 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Pirates of the Crimson Sand is a great little story about pirates, air ships and technical wonders. It sweeps you away to a sandy desert place that is best described by the book\u2019s own words (and I love this bit): \u201cRocks and cacti littered the ground like a demon\u2019s garden.\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1139,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=1139","url_meta":{"origin":1025,"position":3},"title":"Invincible","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"October 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"When you're young nothing can touch you.\u00a0 If you think you can do something, you don't doubt that you can. I stood on the edge of the roof and looked down.\u00a0 I knew that I could fall and maybe even die.\u00a0 But I wasn't scared.\u00a0 No I wasn't even shaky.\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1907,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=1907","url_meta":{"origin":1025,"position":4},"title":"Loss For Words","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"March 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Dad was always muttering under his breath. At first I thought he might be cursing. I would get up close to him, put my little hands around his neck and hold my face up next to his wiry whiskers. He'd laugh and ask me what I was up to. \"I'm\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithbphillips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/img_0477.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithbphillips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/img_0477.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithbphillips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/img_0477.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithbphillips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/img_0477.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1887,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=1887","url_meta":{"origin":1025,"position":5},"title":"The Boat","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"January 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The boat is all we\u2019ve ever known. 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