The Cleanse

As a former anti-runner, who believed that I just wasn't cut out for running and that it just wasn't the right form of exercise for me, a big part of my journey is shedding those misconceptions by not only learning to enjoy running, but also letting it open doors for me in ways I couldn't have imagined before. You should be seeing many of those on this blog as I continue to immerse myself in running.

One of the things I now love about running is that feeling of the cleanse. Adult life is full of so much clutter - material clutter, mental clutter, emotional clutter, information clutter. Sorting through all of it to find a way to be happy and figure out where you're going is a daunting task for all of us. But when I'm running, I feel a lot of that clutter melt away. I feel like I'm taking a shower and watching the metaphorical dirt pour off of me. Running, to me, is a great way to cut through all of the life clutter and take a short cut to the happier, simpler simpler sense of being I crave every day. The endorphin high can combat all of the noise, all the pressures and influences telling me that the way to happiness is by buying better clothes or spending more time on social media or joining more activities or redecorating my house or going through some other herculean effort to "reinvent" myself. Exercise - especially running, where I have so much to work for and accomplish - makes me realize that I don't need all of that. It makes me see everything so much more clearly.

When I'm running everything comes into focus and I realize that this is the way: making myself healthier and stronger. I may get sweatier, but inside I am cleaner. And I can tell, each time I run, that as long as I keep doing this, other things will fall into place. I'll get healthier, my diet will improve, my life will fall into more of a routine, and I'll be more productive and feel more revitalized. I look forward to my runs because they make everything come into focus and they give me that positive boost that no amount of money, information, or anything else can.

So, this is one of the reasons I've found to stick with running. The first was the sense of accomplishment and working toward a goal; my newest one is this, the sense of being cleansed.