Out on my run today I was contemplating what drives me. For men this is a typically uncomfortable, long, and drawn out process where you dig within yourself to find what fuels your fire and stokes the flames of competitiveness. For women this is quite easy because they have been churning on this idea and mulling it around in their sleep for many years. I am not going to delve into the difference between the sexes but here is what it boils down to:
Men: "Thog like wheel and mashing mammoth skulls"
Women: "I think what drives me is that I like to win and I would not mind World Peace too."
So I will speak to how I come to where I am and what drives me. Since I am a man and a close cousin to the cave dweller this has been a long process. Drive comes from many places - parts - and pieces. You don't just wake up one day and decide to go run a long distance because it is something that will stimulate the senses and inspire love and happiness in all living beings. I run because I want to. I run because I believe that every drop of sweat that I leave out there is penance for being the fat man I am. On a higher plane running cleanses my inner vessel of impurities and crystallizes my thoughts. I contemplate many things out on the run. I think about Henry (my son), Mollee (my wife), my parents, siblings, and in-laws. It is almost as if the cave man is going out with his club and counting up the things he has to do today.
Man: "Thog think dad need help, Thog think brother worthless waste of hide, Thog like wife and squid."
So where does this all leave us? Finding your drive and desire to go is the first step. Acknowledging that you have certain limitations, and some of those limitations are gravity, speed, and age. Finding a goal worth working towards is the next thing. What do you want to be doing when you are 60? 80? 90? Do you want to be around and going forward? What do you want to accomplish? Where do you want to go? Do you want to win?
Do you want to win? You can ask yourself that question - Do you? Do you want to be different that the other slugs that waddle along the road of life? Do you want to take the more difficult road - and struggle to make it up that road and get past adversity and pain? Do you want to become something better than you are today?
Or do you want to give up?
Giving up is easy. Giving up is simple. Giving up is what quitters do. Quitters go down the aisle at the grocery store and shovel every flavor of Hostess Pie into their cart along with 98 ounces of Diet Coke. Sure - now chase failure with a side of quitting, and self-loathing.
In my mind the only thing stopping me from running faster is me. I don't need a guide as to what keeps me back and keeps me down. It is choices that I make and things that I do. I stop me. Nobody else out there on the road stopped me today. Nobody else on the road stops you. It is just you and you alone that drive you.
So we come full circle back to drive. Drive moves. Drive goes. Drive does. You have to get past the "Woe is me" and you have to get into the frame of mind that you control you. That you make your time. That you make the effort. That you get it done. Once you are there everything else becomes mathematics. How far do you want to go? How long do you want to run? How fast do you want to go? It is all simple math. Calories burned vs. distance.
So you find the distance, drive, direction, stamina, and voila - you now need the fuel?
I've got mine. Fat. it is my constant companion. But I decide that I won't give in and I won't give up. Failure is not an option - and failure is what fat is.
Men: "Thog like wheel and mashing mammoth skulls"
Women: "I think what drives me is that I like to win and I would not mind World Peace too."
So I will speak to how I come to where I am and what drives me. Since I am a man and a close cousin to the cave dweller this has been a long process. Drive comes from many places - parts - and pieces. You don't just wake up one day and decide to go run a long distance because it is something that will stimulate the senses and inspire love and happiness in all living beings. I run because I want to. I run because I believe that every drop of sweat that I leave out there is penance for being the fat man I am. On a higher plane running cleanses my inner vessel of impurities and crystallizes my thoughts. I contemplate many things out on the run. I think about Henry (my son), Mollee (my wife), my parents, siblings, and in-laws. It is almost as if the cave man is going out with his club and counting up the things he has to do today.
Man: "Thog think dad need help, Thog think brother worthless waste of hide, Thog like wife and squid."
So where does this all leave us? Finding your drive and desire to go is the first step. Acknowledging that you have certain limitations, and some of those limitations are gravity, speed, and age. Finding a goal worth working towards is the next thing. What do you want to be doing when you are 60? 80? 90? Do you want to be around and going forward? What do you want to accomplish? Where do you want to go? Do you want to win?
Do you want to win? You can ask yourself that question - Do you? Do you want to be different that the other slugs that waddle along the road of life? Do you want to take the more difficult road - and struggle to make it up that road and get past adversity and pain? Do you want to become something better than you are today?
Or do you want to give up?
Giving up is easy. Giving up is simple. Giving up is what quitters do. Quitters go down the aisle at the grocery store and shovel every flavor of Hostess Pie into their cart along with 98 ounces of Diet Coke. Sure - now chase failure with a side of quitting, and self-loathing.
In my mind the only thing stopping me from running faster is me. I don't need a guide as to what keeps me back and keeps me down. It is choices that I make and things that I do. I stop me. Nobody else out there on the road stopped me today. Nobody else on the road stops you. It is just you and you alone that drive you.
So we come full circle back to drive. Drive moves. Drive goes. Drive does. You have to get past the "Woe is me" and you have to get into the frame of mind that you control you. That you make your time. That you make the effort. That you get it done. Once you are there everything else becomes mathematics. How far do you want to go? How long do you want to run? How fast do you want to go? It is all simple math. Calories burned vs. distance.
So you find the distance, drive, direction, stamina, and voila - you now need the fuel?
I've got mine. Fat. it is my constant companion. But I decide that I won't give in and I won't give up. Failure is not an option - and failure is what fat is.
