What Makes You Feel Free?

The following is a guest post from a truly beautiful woman, Lindsay at Our View From Wien:

I watched one of my favorite FRIENDS episodes the other day, "The One Where Phoebe Runs".  You know, the one where Rachel moves in with Phoebs because Chandler moved in with Monica and then Rach and Phoebs decided to do something "roomie" together and so they go jogging in Central Park.  At the park, Phoebe's weird running style embarrasses Rachel. Remember this?

Fast forward to later in the episode: Rachel admits to Phoebe that she's embarrassed to run with her, but it's Phoebe's sincere response that helps me see beautiful. 


HERE'S HOW IT WENT DOWN:
Rachel: Hey Phoebe, can I talk to you for a second?
Phoebe: Sure
Rachel: Okay, um, I...(Phoebe walks into her room.) All right Phoebe look, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. OK? I handled the situation horribly and I should not have lied to you.
Phoebe: So, what should you have done?
Rachel: Well, I-I should've told you the truth.
Phoebe: Uh-Huh, Which is...?
Rachel: Well, y'know, the reason I didn't wanna go running with you is because um, well y'know the way that you run is a little...(Starts flapping her arms)
Phoebe: So?
Rachel: Well, it's embarrassing. People were looking at us like we were crazy.
Phoebe: Why do you care?
Rachel: Because they're people.
Phoebe: But people that you don't know and will never see again.
Rachel: Yes, but still. They're people…with eyes.
Phoebe: Well, I didn't get embarrassed running next to Miss (panting). But no, okay. No, no, I can see why running with me would be embarrassing to you. Yeah, okay. You're uptight.
Rachel: I-I am not uptight—Hey-hey-hey-oh-oh! Listen, I am not uptight, man.
Phoebe: That's okay Rachel. I'm not judging you; that's just who you are. Me. I'm more free y'know? I run like I did when I was a kid, cause that's the only way it's fun. Y'know, I mean didn’t you ever run so fast you thought your legs were gonna fall off? Y'know, like when you were like running towards the swings or running away from Satan? (Rachel looks confused) The neighbor's dog.


Then, Rachel tries running like Phoebe and feels so free and great doing it that she doesn't care about people staring.

To watch the full clip, click HERE. 
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Phoebe's response to Rachel helped me see beautiful in two ways:

1. It really doesn't matter what people think of you.  Especially people who don't know you.  All that matters is what you think of yourself.  Phoebe's character is such a rock-star roll model for all of us because she's not trying to be anyone but herself.  This reminds me Judy Garland's quote, "Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else."

2. Running, like a child, can make you feel free!  I'm not an adult who particularly enjoys running.  As I child, I loved it.  And I did it a lot, especially playing soccer.  But, sometime after college and the end of soccer, I began to loath running.  I've only viewed it as a painful means to exercising my heart and burning calories, not an activity to be enjoyed -- especially not with other people.  But, after watching this episode, I think I'll give it a go, arms flailing and all!  I'm inspired to run so fast and so crazily that I want my legs to fall off.  I want to feel free! 

What makes you feel free?

 To read more uplifting writing from Lindsay, visit her blog, Our View From Wien.