Running - Exactly How Has It Changed My Life?

When I initially began running, my intentions where to only use it as another source to get rid of unnecessary body fat. A new methodology to increase my cardio and speed up the weight loss. I was basically doing a few minutes per week on the treadmill and not focusing on any real distance/time goals. I've always been more into weight lifting and things of that nature and so running just complimented my strength training and other cardio routines. It wasn't until around August of 2011 that I started using it as a way to "run away" from an emotional clusterfuck. [To this day, I still don't know what went wrong. But hey, shit happens and people will disappoint].

There are many situations that will occur along the way that we have to deal with. Death, love loss, stress, etc., are all unfortunate but common circumstances of this thing called life. How we survive these life situations, depends on how we as human beings choose to deal with them. Running became my solution.

Honestly, running has been my outlet for many reasons. Not just to battle the grief demons that manifested and never wanted to leave after my grandmother passed away in 2008, or to get me out of a depressive slump resulting from a major heart break I experienced back in 2011, but to allow me to see how much of a strong and determined individual I really am inside.

I've been through a lot of undesirable situations in my life that could have easily broken me down to nothingness, but resiliency seems to be intwined in the very fabric of my being. I just didn't realize how resilient I could be until I started taking this running thing a bit more seriously this past year. It's given me an entirely new perspective when it comes to life and how I should move forward past those things that are just unfortunate barriers along this life's journey. Things become more clear and you're able to find an inner peace that you didn't know existed. You begin to search for meaning and understanding beyond the common ordinary explanations. I tried to follow that path previously, but I guess I needed to find the real me inside that was ready to travel that road. Running helped me get to that destination.

I guess if you've never ran for "fun" then you probably have no idea what the hell I'm talking about. And that's cool. It's not really my intention to make you understand the nature of it, but to only help you understand how it has become a part of me and has altered my existence. Because for me, it really has changed who I am... and it's for the better.

Happy Running!

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