Source: runningfitnessmagcom
I often hear the expression “I am not my job,” with a bit of ambivalence. I’m not sure, but how do you get up for the most part, five days per week and spend eight to ten hours at a job for years and not become some part of what you do? It’s like saying, I don’t smoke, but I sell cigarettes. Maybe it begins as just a job, but I think that if you do “it” for long enough it becomes a bit more than that. Like Aristotle, I too, believe you become what you repeatedly do, sometimes with little effort on your part; however, more often effort is the game changer. Some would argue that effort actually turns mediocrity into super real talent; add a little passion, and the result is unparalleled excellence.
“So what of a social life?” “Do you guys live outsider of running?” Someone once asked. Most runners will say running is a social sport. I recently went to a birthday event of a runner friend and was thrilled to meet other runners to which races and PRs and other running chit-chat was par for the course. What can I say, you get a bunch of runners in a room and it’s bound to happen. We eat, shop, dress, socialize, serve – and if we could – work; all in the context of running. It is what we do and while there may be times of disappointment, we factor it in as part of life and never a result of running.
The life of a runner is spent pretty much.. well.. running; life happens while, when, and on the run. Just like with any other passion in life, running becomes the central activity that everything else adjusts to. The average runner prepares and trains for a race not with that race as the necessary goal but always with his or her eyes on an even bigger race/ prize. Technically there’s no off-season so it’s year-round training and racing with a slight let-up in colder months.
“Slow down,” many, who clearly don’t get it will often say. They see the constant movement as a dissatisfaction with life and self, not understanding the innate desire for personal achievement and wanting to make a difference the best way we know how. Ultimately, it is what drives us and gives purpose to our lives; why we live to run and surround ourselves with all things running. For the non-runner, your challenge is to discover your passion -whatever it is- and run with it. Your happiness depends on it.
runningwithfaith 