73 Marbles
My running partner is away this week so I went for a run with myself. I drove down to our regular run around the seawall and was prepared for a nice, flat nine kilometer run around Stanley Park. Shortly after I started, there was a detour sign and I had to veer off course away from the ocean. The new trail was hilly and by the fourth hill I was starting to curse the steep grades of this unplanned trail. As I trudged up the hill my inner voice said, “This is the way you get strong.” “Screw getting strong,” I answered. But then I thought how it was just like life.
Twice a week I coast around the sea level course. I don’t improve. I don’t get worse. I just stay the same, But in running, as in life, it’s the steep hills, the grueling parts of the course that build stamina. They push me beyond my comfort zone. They ask more of me. They make me dip deeply into my reserves. It’s in pushing through these moments in life (such as loss or a breakup) that we find we have reserves that we didn’t know existed.
I wasn’t thrilled at what this unplanned trail was asking from me, just as I’m not thrilled with what this breakup has asked from me for the past 293 marbles. But is the old saying, “No pain, no gain” really true? Or is it that believing that it’s true we frame our lives around the “school of hard knocks” philosophy when growth and awareness could be gained in easier ways?
My running partner is away this week so I went for a run with myself. I drove down to our regular run around the seawall and was prepared for a nice, flat nine kilometer run around Stanley Park. Shortly after I started, there was a detour sign and I had to veer off course away from the ocean. The new trail was hilly and by the fourth hill I was starting to curse the steep grades of this unplanned trail. As I trudged up the hill my inner voice said, “This is the way you get strong.” “Screw getting strong,” I answered. But then I thought how it was just like life.
Twice a week I coast around the sea level course. I don’t improve. I don’t get worse. I just stay the same, But in running, as in life, it’s the steep hills, the grueling parts of the course that build stamina. They push me beyond my comfort zone. They ask more of me. They make me dip deeply into my reserves. It’s in pushing through these moments in life (such as loss or a breakup) that we find we have reserves that we didn’t know existed.
I wasn’t thrilled at what this unplanned trail was asking from me, just as I’m not thrilled with what this breakup has asked from me for the past 293 marbles. But is the old saying, “No pain, no gain” really true? Or is it that believing that it’s true we frame our lives around the “school of hard knocks” philosophy when growth and awareness could be gained in easier ways?
I pondered this question as I ran sweating and panting by an Asian woman practicing Qigong at the park. She didn’t look like she was in any type of pain as she flowed through her meditative exercise routine with remarkable serenity. It looked like she was experiencing gain with no pain. How much of my inner voice has been implanted by Western ideas of the way things are when there’s a whole world of other possibilities? Other frameworks?
I visit a Chinese doctor when I get a flu because, in my experience, Western doctors don’t seem to aid in the healing of viruses. She has advised me several times that running is not good for my organs and my qi. She says, “You too much running, running in your head all the time. You should not be running your body around.” I tell her that it helps calm me, helps me decompress. She says, “No good.” We agree to disagree, for now.
As I finished my demanding run, with my hips tight and my left heel hurting, I tell God, the universe, or anyone else who’s out there listening, “If it’s possible to grow without the growing pains, send me a heaping order of that. I want some gain minus the pain. Pretty please.”
Can you look at some of your most commonly held beliefs about how life works? Are they true or are they just interesting points of view? Are there some beliefs that aren’t working for you? Can you let them go? With what would you like to replace them?
I visit a Chinese doctor when I get a flu because, in my experience, Western doctors don’t seem to aid in the healing of viruses. She has advised me several times that running is not good for my organs and my qi. She says, “You too much running, running in your head all the time. You should not be running your body around.” I tell her that it helps calm me, helps me decompress. She says, “No good.” We agree to disagree, for now.
As I finished my demanding run, with my hips tight and my left heel hurting, I tell God, the universe, or anyone else who’s out there listening, “If it’s possible to grow without the growing pains, send me a heaping order of that. I want some gain minus the pain. Pretty please.”
Can you look at some of your most commonly held beliefs about how life works? Are they true or are they just interesting points of view? Are there some beliefs that aren’t working for you? Can you let them go? With what would you like to replace them?
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