Running for life

How have I been? Self-check is very important - not just for the Depressed but to any one. Why? Self-check allows you to think about your mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional state. It does not only require thinking, but also feeling.

With regard to my state of happiness, I am happy that I've been working so hard to keep myself sanely happy by doing yoga and running. These replaced my pills. And I'm glad I try so hard to commit myself to these two physical activities that I try to make sure that I build my daily schedule around it. Even more so that I really have to shed off the pounds I gained from taking the anti-depressant pills that could also have contributed to my weight gain. 

In fact, yesterday I did a 10-K run at the 39th Milo Marathon! I was and still extremely happy that I finished it. I thought that I wouldn't be able to. At 2K, I was already feeling like wanting to give up. I was looking around me and trying to find a place where I could just hide and tell my boyfriend (who also ran and went ahead of me) to pick me up there after the run. The feeling was made even worse when I realized that the marathon marshals on their bikes were behind me which meant that I was the last person!

But I went on. I continued. I do not remember anymore what was going on inside my mind that made me continue. I guess the run-walk interval helped. The run-walk didn't put too much pressure on me - just the right pressure to make me finish. Also, I kept on convincing myself that I want to be known as the "finisher" - that one person who finishes something that I start - be it on running or any project  or academic-related work. I was looking for many reasons to continue running - aside from my thoughts, I saw the reasons to run in the old - that lolo and lola who were way older than me but were running! Also, I tried to pace my running with this couple whose speed were probably just the same as mine. Running with these two made running feel less lonely. 

I realized that running is very similar to life - sometimes, you just feel like wanting to give up because you're already feeling weak and you're way behind others anyway. But, because you choose to go on, you do everything to find all the reasons to continue. Until you reach that point where you can somehow easily continue no matter how hard it is or how weak you already feel. And when you reach the finish line - you realize, wow... you can really do it! With positive thinking and choosing to stay strong, everything is possible!