Lace up your best long distance running shoes
Now that it’s spring, I’m running outside. I love running. It’s my favorite. When I was a kid, my favorite sport was soccer because it covered the most ground. At the time, running felt like flying. It was otherworldly. In a sprint, I could move beyond myself.
Today, my sense of “self” and moving beyond it are quite different. Running is less about flying and more about ghostbusting (another childhood favorite). Yet while I’d like to think, “I ain’t afraid of no ghosts,” sometimes, sadly, I run with them.
The fact is, humans are multidimensional. So multidimensional that from a Dynamic Systems Theory perspective, one might call the self little more than patterned behaviors arising in a moment from the interplay of many parts (your family, society, experiences, genetics, etc). From an Internal Family Systems perspective, one might call the self an entire family within your head. Internally, there are primary and secondary members, and each sub-personality has an agenda. And like a good family, sub-personalities are often in conflict.
So no matter how you look at it, a “self” is complicated. And there may be a few different people running around up there!
Why this matters: to maintain a long run, the body overrides the mind. Running forces you back into your body. Your mind-family-characters come with you, of course, but the physical takes priority.
What’s more, physical priority creates space between you and your mental roommates. Such a space lets you see your mind-family with more clarity and less involvement. Sometimes, it even seems like some voices fall away. Other times, the voices grow louder. With the latter, I try to listen.
In total, you don’t have to run to do this. Meditation and yoga work as well for example. But whatever you do, I encourage you to find a practice that gives your body a space to meet your mind.
At best, you may return to your body. Because the body is the only place where you’ll find an objectively more concrete version of a “self.”
A book that changed my relationship with time: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
First: This book contains multiple representations of domestic violence and murder. Nonetheless, one thing I love about this classic novel is that it has a Hamlet-like structure. A second thing I love about this classic is the interplay of the micro and the macro. At the foreground, there’s the personal story of Okonkwo, a proud, self-made Igbo warrior of what would be present-day Nigeria. In the background, however, there’s the inescapable creep of British colonialism.
The confluence of both is an emotional and existential parable. Most of all, it’s a reminder that even the strongest of traditions and values are human-made. And, naturally, that which is human-made is imperfect, impermanent, and apt to fall the way of the title.
Things Fall Apart is short, brutal, and gut-wrenchingly tragic. Not a week goes where I don’t think of this book.
A product that changed my fitness: Hex Dumbbells Rubber Coated Hand Weights
My fitness dramatically improved when I began working out at home. While long distance running is my go-to, running requires strength. And strength, yes, comes from lifting heavy objects. So the first thing I did was purchase a pair of dumbbells.
They don’t need to be heavy. They only need to be heavy enough for 3 to 4 sets of 10 reps. My recommendation: start with one medium pair, and then lift one to three times a week, spacing a rest day between lifts.
Hex Dumbbells are a great option, but it doesn’t really matter what you use. It just matters that you keep moving.
