Saturday, December 08, 2007

what holds you back?

i recently read an article about monks. monks who run. i run. i try at least. i've been seriously running for most of year now. and before that, it was on and off.

back to the monks.

these monks would run 300 miles in 30 hours. i can't even imagine how impossible that would be for me. but that is the stickler. it isn't impossible.

the article goes on to explain that a good runner, can distance himself from time, from pain, from all those things that make you think you are crazy, and just run. see there is this point where physically we can't do any more. our muscles will give out, our bones could break. our hearts would just stop. but the good news is that doesn't happen because our brain sets up a system of safety nets that stop us from getting to that ultimate limit. the problem is, we say to our little brain that the limit is at the first sign of something uncomfortable. and then we stop. give up.

originally i read this article as a runner. i wanted to use it. i wanted to see if i could really ever get to that point of running a marathon.

then i saw the lesson in the lesson. how many times do we let our brain limit us. just by thinking about what we can't do, maybe we limit ourselves on what we really can do.

i guess the main trick is to have something to focus on. whether it be the mountain in the distance, the clock on the wall, the baby asleep. just as long as i can focus my mind on that one thing, my feet will carry me there. give it a read. i hope it inspires you too.

see the article here

1 comment:

scraphappymama said...

loved the article too. i hope to be able to make it beyond my initial limits when running. But, it's a great life lesson for sure!!