Inspired by a friend to revisit my blog :)
So my drug of choice lately, since I am above the influence and all, has been running. And by lately I mean since Spring finally decided to arrive in the Midwest a couple of weeks ago. I had heard of "runner's high" before, and since exercising always makes me feel good about myself, I thought I had experienced the feeling before too. A few days ago I actually got a taste of the endorphin-induced high like never before, and have been tripping ever since (unintentional pun, but I think it works).
This makes me think about the number of other things we do everyday, "disconnected" from the world. When I take the train to work, almost every person has earbuds in his ear, or an ipad in his hands and is otherwise occupied. This recent running experience has made me realize how wonderful it is to be aware of yourself. Is it not amazing that my body listens when I tell it to move? And that I can sit in a train for fifteen minutes and travel miles without moving a muscle? It is possible that I am getting carried away with these revelations but these are things that are on my mind. I think need to be silent more so I can rediscover these simple reminders of how blessed I am. I envision that this would be very good for me and my mental health. So my new life goal is to tune in on the task at hand more often, or I guess tune out depending on how you look at it.
So my drug of choice lately, since I am above the influence and all, has been running. And by lately I mean since Spring finally decided to arrive in the Midwest a couple of weeks ago. I had heard of "runner's high" before, and since exercising always makes me feel good about myself, I thought I had experienced the feeling before too. A few days ago I actually got a taste of the endorphin-induced high like never before, and have been tripping ever since (unintentional pun, but I think it works).
The key to the success of this running experience was probably that I set out sans ipod. I was genuinely nervous at the thought of running without my apple buddy for moral support. Fear of boredom is a legitimate thing, I just declared it. I mean, if I got bored halfway through my run, I would be stuck a long ways from home with nothing to do but run... imagine that. But when I pushed those thoughts to the back of my head and just did it Nike style, I saw that being outdoors with nothing but my keys tucked into my shoelaces, no sense of time, and no real destination was thoroughly liberating. I know that is a kind of a sugary sentiment, but it is 100% true. I could hear my heart pumping in overdrive, and the dogs barking across the street. It felt like a switch was turned on and I was suddenly aware of so many things. So my new fitness goal is that from now on, more of my runs will be be tuned out.
This makes me think about the number of other things we do everyday, "disconnected" from the world. When I take the train to work, almost every person has earbuds in his ear, or an ipad in his hands and is otherwise occupied. This recent running experience has made me realize how wonderful it is to be aware of yourself. Is it not amazing that my body listens when I tell it to move? And that I can sit in a train for fifteen minutes and travel miles without moving a muscle? It is possible that I am getting carried away with these revelations but these are things that are on my mind. I think need to be silent more so I can rediscover these simple reminders of how blessed I am. I envision that this would be very good for me and my mental health. So my new life goal is to tune in on the task at hand more often, or I guess tune out depending on how you look at it.
Cheesy jokes always win.
