Cover of BORN TO RUN
run [ruhn]
Christopher McDougall’s book gave me a kick start in to the world of running for personal pleasure. Before then, I only ran for some other purpose: sports such as football and basketball, to improve my conditioning to be better in such sports, and most popularly because of growing too fat.
It was my very good friend and running partner and coach, JIMMY HART, that twisted my arm to read this book when I was going through a very rough patch in my ongoing battle with depression a few years ago. He framed the read and tricked me in to reading it as a self-improvement read knowing that at the time, I was a hog for all things that I felt could aid me in my quest to get a firm hold over my life and become better.
It was a very delightful treat because rather than point out my deficiencies and areas that needed in improvement in my life (as most self-help books tend to do)…the book treated me with a pure and simple narrative. The book taught me a valuable lesson: I WAS BORN TO RUN.
We live in our moments. The moments we choose to focus our lives in. So it’s easy for me to get lost in the life of materialism where I quickly grow malcontent because there’s always so much more to want. It’s almost unbelievable for me to learn of places in this world today where some of the people’s greatest joys come free. To know that there are people who hold to ancient traditions of epic nonstop runs for just pure sport. They run not for endorsements and mass celebrity, but just for pure competition and satisfaction.
Right now, I live in a world of efficiency and productivity. Namely, produce more money and more material in a more timely manner. This world appreciates convenience and leisure.
It takes a reflective time like now for me to realize how physically I can get exhausted although I hadn’t done anything to exert myself physically. A couple truths come to mind: Where focus goes energy flows. Where the mind goes the body follows. A body at rest remains at rest.
A body in motion remains in motion. Motion represents life. Placing one foot in front of the other has huge implications in creating balance. Running is after all an act that it is a perpetual balancing act. So if you feel as I have felt as of late…that your life is out of balance… RUN.
run [ruhn]
In this respect, I’d like to argue that not only are we born to run but if both feet are constantly off the ground…then how beautiful it is that we are born to fly.