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Previous issues: 2004 Soapboxes
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Aimee's Soapbox!
October 2005: Inspection's Due!
How do we runners do it? Almost every runner I know is the driven Type A personality who manages to juggle a full-time job, a family,
some sort of civic or volunteer duty, and maybe even a hobby or two, all while training for a marathon or multi-sport event. Seriously,
how do we do it?
I am never sure whether I admire or question the "work hard, play hard" mentality that most runners have. On the one hand, it
serves us well when it comes to race time or presentation-at-work time. On the other, however, it can leave us drained and wondering
if maybe a month on the couch with a pint of Ben & Jerry's wouldn't be a better option.
So, given the fact that most of us put a good 40,000 miles on our bodies yearly, I thought that it might be wise to suggest that
we all do a little preventive maintainence on ourselves to make sure that we are still firing on all pistons for many years to come.
In addition, I recently attended an astrology conference that got me thinking about the same topics. Funny how life gives you signs,
eh? The trick is to be paying attention to them. My theory is that if you ignore the first tap on the shoulder, the Universe will
smack you upside the head the next time. So best to get the message the first time.
Anyway, here is the condensed version of the conference. Inspect these four areas in your life and see where you might need a tune-up.
1. ELIMINATE. And I mean this in all senses of the word. Where are you hoarding things in your life? What excess stuff could you
get rid of? In Feng Shui, a practitioner will tell you that throwing away an old, stale item will allow fresh energy to come in. And now
is a perfect time to donate your old clothes and shoes to the hurricane victims. A literal lightening up of your home will become a symbolic
lightening up of you.
Speaking of lightening up yourself, how is your personal elimination system (yes, I mean going to the bathroom)? The performance of your
digestive and elimination system is a very good indicator of your general health and nutrition. If there are abnormalities here, you might
want to take stock of your eating and drinking habits. Eliminate the bad habits so you can properly eliminate!
2. TAKE STOCK. Now that you've lightened up, take stock of your life. What belief systems need to be changed or updated? Where
could you grow in your life? We runners are notorious for punishing ourselves and pushing ourselves. But has this helped or hurt you?
Of course it's good to push yourself and strive for excellence, but are you really seeking perfection? Are you training through an injury
or running in pain just because you don't want to take time off? Are you addicted to writing down numbers in a journal? Take an honest
assessment of yourself and discover outdated belief systems that are really holding you back and preventing you from living happily. Too many
of us believe that we don't deserve to be happy because we are not thin/fast/pretty/whatever enough.
3. LIVE JOYFULLY. Yes, it's true. It's OK to live joyfully. So you don't have to snarl at the driver in front of you who did not use
his turn signals. You don't have to wait till you get that promotion/girlfriend/big-screen TV. You don't even have to continue beating
yourself up for perceived past failures. Go ahead, be happy! Eliminate, take stock, re-evaluate, and consciously choose to be happy. Remember,
you HAVE emotions, but you don't have to BE your emotions. They are simply opportunities for you to learn something about yourself.
4. LEAD. Now what good is it if you've done all this eliminating and re-evaluating and joyful-izing if you are not going to put it to
good use? Aren't we really all here to help one another? So now that you have done your homework on yourself, get out there and teach others and
lead by example! Coach your kid's soccer team and teach them how to take care of themselves. Step up at work and offer to be team leader on
your next project. You will find that you get back just as much as you put out there.
And so, my dear Groovy Runners and Readers, please do take your "vehicle" in for inspection. It will ensure that you can continue to
work hard and play hard, just in a more productive manner. You might find that the changes you make are uncomfortable or challenging. But
it won't be any worse than training for a marathon. Speaking of which, I am off to Chicago to run a JOYFUL marathon!
Coming up. . .
Winter training ideas.
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