The Power of the Mind

Recently I was have one of those “rough” days and I got to thinking how I’ve soldiered on through so many things in my life. There is a certain “endurance” to toughing things out and it occurred to me that maybe this is why I like long distance running.

I was in a conversation with a friend last weekend where I was commenting on a certain race course, I said that I wasn’t sure if I would want to run it because it was a repetitive loop and that would be boring ... my friend instantly disagreed with me and suggested rather that this was a course that was fun to run because it would train my mind to follow through. To solve a problem.

So is running a metaphor for life?

Some mornings even though according to my training plan I am scheduled to go for a run, I hesitate because I don’t “feel” like it ... but I know that if I lace up and go out I will feel great. In long distance running, when we are faced with a challenge we have to find a solution - so much of running, from lacing up to breaking through the "wall" is actually figuring out how to solve a problem. The problem of not being in the mood or breaking through that "wall" to get to the finish line.

So when I have a tough day and I don’t feel like having to to soldier on, when I am tired and I don’t want to have to solve the problem ... I know I need to adjust my attitude and carry on. Human beings although sometimes prone to feeling lazy, are not wired to give up. We are designed to improve, to grow. If we stand still for too long then we stagnate ... in life, as in running, if we don’t keep our bodies moving we pay the price.

Living in the developed world it is so easy to complain, to get tired of our “rough” days, but I like to remind myself that even though I have those days where I get tired, when I simply don’t want to move forward, I have little to complain about. I really am lucky, lucky, lucky! My problems are silver plated and it is my duty keep evolving, to keep moving, to keep soldiering on.

The future is in my hands ... the mind is very powerful, it really is all about attitude and maybe some problem solving.

"I am the master of my fate: the captain of my soul" - (from Invictus by William Ernest Henley)