"Are You Running?"

Those three little words every girl loves to whisper. (Well, any girl who is a political consultant, at least.) “Are you running?”

It’s the phrase we quietly ask of a person when rumours start swirling that he might run for public office. And when they nod and smile and respond back with the not-unrequited three little words of their own, “I am running," it is sweet music to our ears. Game on.

I admit, the political form of “running” – well, I’ve been interested in that about as long as I’ve been interested in the physical act itself. And I’ve always been interested in language and the power of words. Especially when words have dual meaning.

Webster’s dictionary lists the word “Run” as the following:  (verb) – "to  go faster than a walk; specifically: to go steadily by springing steps so that both feet leave the ground for an instant in each step.”

But there are so many other powerful meanings.

You see, you “run” from a burning building. You “run” into the arms of your lover. You “run” for office – perhaps the highest office in the land, not to mention the free world. You “run” a business. You “run” a lemonade stand. “Run” for your life. And last but not least, you “run” an errand – one of the seemingly simplest of chores, yet done hundreds of times per year it weaves the very fabric of our daily lives together.

"Run" is one of the most powerful words running in the English language (there it is again). And in my view, one of the most powerful things you can do. For your body. For your mind. For your soul. For your children. For yourself.

So the only question I have for you, America, is:  “Are you running?”