I started running a little over ten years ago. My friends gave my wife and me an old treadmill they had, so I figured that I should start to do some exercise in my life. Ten years later and I’ve run a good many races. I have two marathons under my belt (and one homemade marathon—I ran 26.2 miles in my neighborhood to raise money for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation), and I keep up with my running several times a week.
I can’t remember where I stumbled across Deena Kastor’s Let Your Mind Run book, but it was probably in a recent issue of Runner’s World magazine.
I’m not a fast runner, but I wanted to stay in shape, so I fell into running.
Why do I bring up Kastor’s book?
The subtitle of her book is “a memoir of thinking my way to victory.”
With being in quarantine for more than eight weeks due to the Coronavirus pandemic, I have loaded up books and podcasts to help me to remain positive.
What I like about Kastor is that she goes into detail about the negative self-talk that she struggled with once she started running professionally. She had never been a runner in high school, and her family kept suggesting that she sign up for sports. After a few tries at different activities, she settled into running and discovered that she was fast—really fast.
But as she turned professional after college, she struggled with injuries and negativity.
In her memoir, she writes about the moment that her world changed. She was out on a long afternoon run and felt tired. Instead of giving into negativity, she looks at the world around her and admired how beautiful the mountain and river were. She had an ephinany: “Nothing had changed, only I did. Or rather, my mind changed; it became a place of constant positivity. I no longer had to keep intense vigilance over my thoughts. Graduate relieved my mind of that duty.”
I have spent many wasted hours worrying and stressing out. I’ve focused on the negative and not seen the riches in front of me. If I’m honest, maybe it’s easier to complain about the negative because it creates more drama. But over time, the negativity pulls you down.
What if I focused on gratitude in my life?
I tried it earlier today. I went out on my long run, and as I passed a golf course, I could see the sun peeking through the clouds. I thought about how grateful I am for my wife, children, my job, and for being able to run and enjoy a beautiful spring morning. I started thinking of this as I ran up a hill, and I realized that it became easier to run. I had channeled my energy to be positive, and my heart lifted.
Yes, my family and I have been sheltering at home in quarantine for many weeks from the pandemic. But I flipped the switch and focused on all the positive things that have happened in my life. The books I have read, the podcasts that I have discovered, and the great joy I have found in sharing my life and love with my family.
I am grateful for all I have and am so thankful.
Today, what are you grateful for? If there is a heavy problem holding you back, can you put that down for a bit, and try to see beyond that? I know this might be extremely hard (or feel impossible to do).
What are you grateful for?
Embrace it and send that thought back out to the world.
Like what you’ve read? Be sure to check out my other posts in my Let Go and Be Free blog.