How to make the impossible possible?
I wish I knew then what I know now! How I hated (with a passion) cross-country and the 1500m track event at school. I was that rather podgy boy at school, the kid who got used to the word "last" either "coming in last" or "being picked last"! I couldn't really get my brain around the concept of what running was all about apart from something painful I wished to avoid at all costs.
It was of course many years later I'd learn the 'science' behind exercise, the application of NLP and the opportunity to 'switch off' and perhaps focus on just putting one foot infront of the other!
As I wandered around London on Sunday morning (the day of the 2009 London Marathon), I experienced many things that confirmed old thoughts and engaged new ones. A myriad of questions pinging round the old grey cells...here are just a few captured on from mind to screen:
Safety in Numbers: For those less confident in doing something, we take solace in the fact that other people are also doing the same thing.
The most important word in our language....is our OWN NAME: At mile 23, when the aches, pains, walls all try their best to slow us down, the power of hearing someone call your name out with encouragement is the best motivation known to mankind. Those savvy runners who write their names on their running vests probably recognise it's not free advertising, it's free encouragement!
Happiness is contageous (and so is depression!): All around London, one could hear the echoes of cheers, horns, hooters, bells. When we hear other people showing true signs of excitedness, it rubs off on us. They say a smiling person is more attractive than a frowning one...the contagion works for the other senses too!
Even in the busiest of places, we can feel alone: So many faces with focus on them, all looking at nothing but putting one foot infront of the other. The mind can really be the most powerful tool to our repertoire of life-busting arsenal.
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