Running has become a metaphor for life to me. To me, running is mostly about persistence. Any given run requires respecting each mile individually and it can all turn bad pretty quickly.
For people who have the fortune to participate in athletics it comes as no surprise that persistence in sport often leads to a better outcome. What does seem to be a bit elusive is how far one can push.
“If you are running an ultramarathon and start to feel good, don’t worry, it will pass.” – unknown
Many people have grow very accustom to comfortable conditions and understanding how far they can really push themselves seems like something to avoid, however I submit that we may be missing something.
If we can agree that we grow through adversity then the proposition of becoming uncomfortable, often, seems like a method to self improvement.
We go to school and work, which is often not by choice, the state says school is important and work pays you money to get you to go, yet we do these things without thinking of them as particularly difficult from an attendance standpoint. What if you have a job that isn’t physically challenging? Can you say you leave stronger or even as strong as you started that morning when you leave for the day?
There is magic to be found in how the body and mind adapt when stressed and this should be something we pay attention to because nobody else will.