Skip to main content

Believe it or not

When running alone and running long, one has plenty of time and solitude to ruminate about life. Some profound truths strike and you develop your own philosophy around them.

 

In the course of my runs, two statements that one hears often have struck me as gross untruths:

1.     I don’t have an Ego: Everyone has an ego. You must have an ego. There are no two ways about it. If one were to genuinely not have an ego, you would go through life without a challenge, without being noticed and without achieving much. One has to keep the ego on a tight leash, so that it works for you rather than controlling you.  A well-molded ego drives you to do all the hard work, achieve excellence and rise higher and higher. An unfettered ego turns one into a megalomaniac and sends you into an unhealthy downward spiral.

2.      I don't have any Stress: Believe me, stress is good for you! In today's modern lifestyles, stress is a constant companion, a co-traveler. It has to be a rather evolved and fulfilled soul to not have any stress. 

Stress is healthy till a certain limit. When you feel the pressure, your effort, efficiency and output increases linearly till a point. Just like the proverbial rubber band, stretch...stretch...stretch and then snap. Stress too, once it reaches tipping point, results in paralysis and drastic fall in performance. 

 

So the trick with both ego and stress is to keep them reigned it and make them work for you, not let them overwhelm you. 

What is their relation to running?! Plenty! Put yourself under pressure to improve your performance, challenge your ego to better yourself. Remember, when you run, your only competition should be against yourself. Strive to get better...day on day...month on month...year on year.

Comments

  1. Gaurav Sethi24 September 2020 at 19:28

    True! To be the best version of yourself is the ultimate goal! Running gives me goals to strive for and drives me to keep trying to improve.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DocVineet28 September 2020 at 22:38

      Spot on! Running opens you up to new possibilities, stretching your limits, surprising yourself!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Enough sleep, anyone?

One common myth, which I have almost convinced myself in my case too, is that you can acclimatize your mind and body to do with less sleep without any negative effects. As a doctor you pride yourself about this. However, as the years roll by and you listen to your body more and analyze yourself with detachment, one reaches the conclusion that you DO need MORE/ ENOUGH sleep. That gets us to the question of how much is enough sleep. The answer is pretty straightforward, no ifs and buts: 7-9 hours a day for ages 18-64 and 7-8 hours for age 65 years and above. And why: Because it is linked to your emotional, mental and physical health, quality of life and safety. Inadequate sleep leads to irritability, poor concentration, anger and depression. Sleep is important to process new information and remember it. Sleep deficiency is linked to higher incidence of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and strokes. Not to forget lower immunity, making you more prone to infections, especially virals. Sleep...
4 comments
Read more

Simple Joys

It's a battle between the Joy of Running and Joy of Achievement    Technology has 2 sides to the coin, doesn't it? No doubt it makes life easy and makes things possible that we could never have even dreamt about. On the flip side, it complicates our lives. We hardly realize, but the present world is a prisoner of technology. Take away all the technology for a couple of hours and we are at a total loss and panicking....the proverbial 'fish out of water', thrashing about and almost asphyxiating.    How does this rant have a connection with running? My humble submission: Recreational running was supposed to be all about unconditional fun, to enjoy; not worry about targets or goals, not be controlled by technology.  Let's face it: The vast majority of us are not even close to the elite level or international competition class. And the fancy shoes, sports watches, running apps and motivational talks are not going to get us there.  If you just want to be better t...
4 comments
Read more

‘Beat the Lockdown’ Run/ Walk

My apologies to the civic minded and upright, law abiding citizens 🙏 This post is neither a call to arms nor an instigation to break government-mandated lockdowns in this COVID19 pandemic. Rather it is kind of a survival guide for the running junkies (and indeed the hardcore morning walkers community too) who can't do without their daily fix  🤗 .  How best to get your fix without upsetting too many people or getting hauled up by the patrolling police. Here goes: 1.            Start real early in the morning 🌃 Preferably around 5 am, before dawn. Not many neighbors are up and about (and neither your family members!), so less people to castigate you 😝 . Running or walking incognito (hopefully!) in the receding darkness of the night lessens your guilt also 😜 . After the night's patrolling, the police waalas also tend to be at the nadir of their alertness and enthusiasm. What to say of the stray canines, they too deign that ti...
3 comments
Read more