- Total Time: 11:54:39
- Distance: 46.2
- Runs: 18
Click here to see pictures of my journey! https://www.instagram.com/p/CL1qDFrHr83/
A month ago I started a running challenge trying to find a connection between my physical and spiritual selves. On those running days I went out with the intention of having internal conversations with my spirit, to understand why I was feeling a void despite having everything else in an apparent balance. The challenge is complete and what I found surprised me.
I took every run as a form of meditation. Even when the music was loud motivating me to physically move, my mind and spirit were talking to each other. I forced that dialogue and let myself feel those conversations instead of finding logic behind them. I realized that in life this is what happens. There is so much loud noise around you. Most of the time said noise distracts you from your purpose and you don’t allow yourself to feel things but instead you try to find explanations for everything and it is exhausting. You let the noise take control so those internal conversations are ignored. What you need to do is let the noise be a mere background that may or may not motivate you, what matters is that it won’t kill the internal conversations that you must have in order to fulfill your purpose. That is the void. When you are just hearing the loud noise and you are not allowing your spirit to talk to you, when you are ignoring your inner voice, you are simply incomplete.
My spirit was trying all this time to show me that I was being guided, that there is always a connection, and the void was just a sensation resulting from missing such guidance, from paying much more attention to the loud noise around me instead. The challenge was inspired by my soul, as is every single thought and intention, to simply use my physical body as a tool to prove to myself that when I really want something, whatever it is, I can make it happen. In other words, I needed physical proof that I can simply go get whatever I want, whenever I want. It’s that simple. It only requires two things: consistency and will. There are no further formulas, nor limits. Gusto, collateral rewards, habit, come with time.
On the last day of February after my final run of the month, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Did I really run 46.1 miles? Yes! I did! Despite the fact that I am probably in the worst physical shape of my life (thank you pandemic). When you have consistency and will, there are no excuses on the table, you simply don’t allow them to appear. I treated my runs like an unnegotiable part of my weekly routine and incorporated them into my life without finding a single motive, but letting the experiment unfold as it was. The universe needs sometimes space to surprise us, that is the beauty of allowing instead of controlling the outcomes. So run after run I started getting more comfortable, sometimes even craving the runs because I was not expecting any outcome, I was just simply living the moment mindfully.
It was surprising and refreshing to go for something that I had no idea whatsoever what was going to bring into my life. Were all the runs enjoyable? No. There were moments of pain, irritability, frustration and there were moments marked with a thin line of quitting. In the end, neither the weather, my energy levels, nor other commitments or preoccupations were in the way of my consistency and will. And there I had the proof. 46+ miles, great inner conversations, more productivity, better skin, slight changes in my body, the greatest mood since the starting of the pandemic, more mindfulness in every current single endeavor, better sleep nights, more and better writing, and the biggest one, the sensation of being unstoppable, are some of the results, despite the 3 days I had to stop because my knee was hurting, or those frustrating moments when it was too cold, too hot, too rainy, or the obligated resting days, all the benefits of challenging yourself and proving that you can do whatever you set your mind into, makes you powerful.
Why am I telling you this? My purpose as a writer, aside from decanting my self-expression, is to inspire or entertain others, because storytellers seek listeners that are willing to open their hearts. Maybe you are feeling that void, maybe you are not into running but you like dancing, drawing, swimming, I don’t know. If somehow this resonates, I will invite you to challenge yourself for a little period of time to find that connection through something physical. I encountered so many benefits after only a month and most likely acquired a habit that hopefully will stick. I am planning to keep running, writing, and finding myself other challenges and other dreams to pursue. That is what life is all about, isn’t it?
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