The Magic of Sneakers

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think.

Buddha

It was cold. 

Frozen-50k cold to be exact. 

Running a 5k loop (3.1 miles) around beautiful Cassadaga Lake ten times in teen-degrees and lotsa snow on the road was my plan today… and I DID IT.

And it was cold. And slushy. 

And I have, yet again, proven to myself that I am powerful and strong beyond measure, both in physical prowess and mental faculty.

I am, in fact, amazing. 🙂

What you think, you become. What you feel, you attract. What you imagine, you create.

Buddha

Wasn’t always this way… er, I have always been amazing… but I didn’t know it and therefore didn’t act upon it. My life was full of victimhood and feeling like the world was against me. My thoughts had me twisted and turned all over the place. Fragile, easily offended, fearful. I lived a pitiful life, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

It’s often our own thinking that hurts us. There’s no reason to imprison yourself. Don’t think outside the box. Think like there is no box.

marcangel

And then I discovered Running. I had always walked, lifted some weights, danced a little or sweated at step aerobics class. These were fun, grounding, and helped my mood FOR THE MOMENT. Struggling as I did in anxiety, I was thankful for the temporary high. Problem is, it never stayed. My thoughts returned to beat me down again. 

Until Running and I became fast friends. Lovers, really.

I discovered that running – longer runs, especially – radically shifted my mental game. Most may think running is about physical gain, and there’s that too, but running miles and miles is a MENTAL practice. If I started thinking negatively, it was over. I could talk myself out of finishing. I could talk myself right into tapping early. 

To keep going on these long runs, I had to unlearn the negative self-talk and learn to encourage myself. What I began to realize was a positivity that lasted way past the run itself. I could be high and happy for a day, two, three, following a long run. 🙂

Train your mind to see the good in everything. Positivity is a choice. The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts. 

marcangel

I’m thankful to have found Running. Our relationship has changed my whole life. Running has been an integral player in my discovering that I am capable of so much more than I’d allowed myself to imagine. As I laced up for those long runs, and spent time on the road for hours, I found myself believing in the endless possibilities of a joy-filled life, abundant in health and laughs.

Running has helped me see myself differently. I used to chide myself, toes to the line at a race or at a group run gathering, “you’re not a runner… you’re thick-thighed and slow… what are you thinking, being out here among these runners?” 

But, dammit, I kept running and I kept gathering with the groups and I kept signing up for races. I did it afraid and I kept doing it. And have kept doing it.

I am, in fact, a runner. 🙂

During today’s cold and long run, I constantly encouraged myself, “One loop done, nine to go. Two loops done, eight to go.” And I would envision myself crossing the finish line at ten loops and HOW THAT WOULD FEEL to do so.

I would not entertain thoughts of “this is too hard and I’m too old” – it WAS hard but I am definitely NOT too old – nor “well, eight is good, right?” Indeed, eight is amazing… but it’s not ten. And ten was my plan. It was what felt right today.

And so, this evening I can’t help but ponder how magical that this upgraded way of thinking began with something as simple as a pair of sneakers, a willingness to feel uncomfortable, and patience. Never more than now do I see the incredible connection between mind and body, and how they directly influence each other. 

What if becoming happier, less anxious, more joyful, less depressed, more hopeful… is as simple, as profoundly basic as tying up your sneakers and heading out into the woods? Would we finally discover the truth of who we are? For we are powerful beyond measure. Magical, indeed.

You do not find a happy life. You make it.

Camilla Kimball

I am, in fact, making it. 🙂

One mile at a time.

Lisa Augustine Glasier

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