Why I Run
Recently I was chatting to a good friend who asked me why I run. I had to pause and think because naturally I don’t class myself as a runner. Instead, I am someone who goes running.
Whether I am a runner or not is not particularly important, however the purpose is. I used to go out regularly just to keep fit. 30-40 minutes would suffice, I would feel pretty good afterwards, but it was often a bind beforehand. Then the Royal Parks 1/2 Marathon 2016 was on the agenda so I had to get a bit more serious. Somehow it became more enjoyable. There was a goal and a reason. The reason was to raise awareness of the problem of chronic pain and to raise money for UP, understand pain.
Purpose and mine as an example
Having a purpose or a meaning is known to be a key ingredient for a healthy and happy life. You may or may not know what it is, so it’s a great idea to write it out. We all have a calling, or as Seth Godin says, a ‘caring’. We can have a number of these in relation to family, work and other activities in life.
My purpose, which you could also call my ‘why’ in Simon Sinek’s language, is to inspire as many people as I can, to live well and overcome pain. This is by directly working and coaching with people who suffer chronic pain to date, and delivering The Pain Coach Workshopsto clinicians and therapists who choose to become inspirers, educators, enablers and encouragers.
Here is Richard Leider on purpose ~ TEDX talk
Next came the opportunity to run the London Marathon 2017. I was selected to represent CRPS UK, joining together with UP, and realised the excitement of taking part in an incredible day. The experience of preparing for a marathon was something I can now look back upon with pride. Somehow you manage to fit in the regular and long runs. Undoubtedly this required the support of the people close by. The 20 mile plus efforts would consume a Saturday with the recovery on return usually consisting of walking like John Wayne accompanied by much grunting and groaning until the next day.
What has running done for me?
There have been a number of effects of long distance running beyond the obvious fitness. At a time when I was driving understand pain onwards, the regular and intense exercising helped me to focus. In part this was from organising my time, prioritising and concentrating on completing tasks. There was no choice, because I had to fit in the long runs, but now this has become a habit. We have finite time and so wise use is important to me.
The ability to focus comes into its own when you are some miles into the run and your thinking turns to stopping, the pain, and plenty of other reasons why continuing is a bad idea. To keep going and ‘just run’ as my good (running) friend advised me was gold. You can and do just keep going, suddenly inspired by something you choose to turn your attention to, fortifying the attitude I describe below, which we can take into other arenas of life.
The most significant opportunity was building upon the ‘you can’ approach to life. Building up the miles with an attitude of ‘I can do this’, keeping my attention on a picture of success that I clarified from the start and following principles that take me in that direction resulted in completing the marathon. Looking back now, this was a mindset that pervaded the UPethos and how grown immeasurably since. The more you work that approach, the more the approach works.
you can
Undoubtedly, focusing on one’s strengths means that you get results together with the development of clarity and resilience to face challenges that crop up. This is no different with a pain challenge to overcome, which is why I encourage people to adopt the strengths approach. It works if you have a purpose, principles to follow and a picture of success to work towards based on living a healthy and happy life.
So this is why I run. Not to keep fit — that is a great side effect and not at all separate from the way we feel and think; we are whole unique individuals — but to nurture and build an approach to life that is about possibility and fulfilling potential.
approach to life: problems or possibilities?
Tomorrow I run the Royal Parks 1/2 Marathon in London. This was a great day last year and I am very excited to be doing it again. I am running to raise awareness of CRPS UK and understand pain and the work we are doing to address the No 1 global health burden ~ see below. Please support my work. Chronic pain affects each and everyone of us either because we suffer, know someone who suffers or pay towards the problem via taxes, insurance premiums and long NHS waits. This can change. This is our work at understand pain, this is my purpose.
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Keeping it Eclectic...
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