Today’s run: 3.7 miles. 39:37 minutes. YT: 269.7 miles. Great, great run. I worked myself into a frenzy replaying the gentle yelling match I had with Umberto, my building super. It seems that the new, younger residents of the building (of which I am one) have been using their brute strength to force open the interior security door; he had to fix it 3 times. THREE TIMES!! But Umberto: If some blonde lightweight from LA can PUSH the door open, IT’S NOT FIXED!! This was my second direct view of the tensions in the LES between old and new, and I tried my best to be patient, viewing it in that light. The first involved a local activist on a street corner at 2 a.m.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what makes me happy.
Sunshine. Rain. Love. Twist endings. Hugs. The freedom to make and recover from impulsive decisions.
But I also believe happiness is a state of mind. I mean, don’t tell me to smile while you push me onto a bed of nails. But apart from extremes, dandelions in the concentration camp and whatnot, it’s more or less true. You can choose to be happy.
How do you do that? Go for your run. Screw excuses. Screw obstacles. GO. That’s an active choice to be happy. It’s saying, “I choose to do what makes me feel good. I choose to protect it and let everything else flow from that.”
It’s standing up for your belief in the best-case scenario for your life, not the rainy day version – whatever the weather.
I don’t know, I heard those LA blondes are pretty tough.
I like this post. This morning I had planned to go running but woke up and the weather did not look good. I sat around for a while surfing the internet and wasting time making a decision. Then I just did it – I put on my shoes, shirt and rain jacket and went outside. I opened the door and realized the rain was coming down pretty hard and I thought to myself, can I do this? Can I actually go running in a downpour? So I went for 2 miles and heard thunder and lightening, wondered if that was dangerous, but kept running. I was soaked and energized when I came back and it was definitely the best thing I did today.
I love it!! I’ve had that same moment – “Am I really going to run in this rain?” I actually love it, even when my shoes end up sloshy. :-) Part of what’s fun is it seems like a victory over the elements.