Sole is the true soul of running and life
Unedited unabridged version of my column Run&Bee in Hindustan Times on 7th December 2019.
When it comes to runners, we are too busy looking for appreciation and recognition from all around us whether in physical or virtual world. Most of us aren’t running for ourselves but for everyone else. The joy of running soon goes missing, the original reason for having got started. We are just in a mindless rat race.
“Your true soulmate has got to be your sole-mates, both left and right foot soles. You need to put your best foot forward.”
Far enough, running is definitely physical. But those who have evolved more as human beings than just runners appreciate that psychology plays a bigger role. We need to find a bigger purpose for life and running. But in the whole body-mind-soul model, somehow ‘soul’ doesn’t seem to come into picture. It’s because we’ve taken the most obvious for granted.
A week back, my friend was blessed with a beautiful baby girl. I was fortunate enough to see her when she was not even an hour old. I simply couldn’t get my eyes off her. It was simply magical to see a new life which didn’t exist before.
It reminded me of my Obstetrics posting as a young doctor where I first-hand witnessed babies coming into this world. I’ve always been amazed by this biggest miracle we witness. It sank in even more when couple of months back I held my mother’s lifeless body, she was there but yet not there. That spark called life was missing. We just take it for granted as long as it’s there, not appreciating that what has a start, has to have an end.
“Movement in any form is a primal instinct for all living beings. It helps us connect with ourselves, making us come alive, making every moment count. Lot of folks would join you on your journey for different duration of time and distance of both life and running, but no one can make it happen for you. ”
At times body will hurt courtesy all kinds of injuries you’ll encounter on your journey. It could be because of your follies from over-training to no training to poor training. You need to go back to basics to bounce back again.
Sometimes your mind will be messed up and you would want to give up as nothing would seem to make sense. Running has often been called as meditation in motion. You need to get back to calm down. Not everything has to make sense. But you’ve got to be on your journey. At times fast, some times, maybe short and occasionally long, yet moving forwards.
For your soul’s sake, you’ve got to keep your chin up and keep moving, one baby step at a time. You’ve got to celebrate life rather than mourn or fear death because it’s inevitable. It just might be right around the corner.
Once you've learnt to be your best friend and decided to keep moving, you’ll be able to be an even better support for your loved ones. If you depend too much on anyone else, sooner than later you’ll convert from being an asset to a liability. Become active and fit yourself so you can support others. Your target doesn’t need to be lofty, simply better than what you were yesterday.
“How many of us now realize that when you look out into infinity you are looking at yourself?”
