My antidotes for chaos — rule 4
Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.
I’ve been a runner for over 30 years. I started for the pure joy of it, to simply feel my heart pumping, and breath flowing in and out, in rhythm with the cyclical movement of my limbs. I also experienced a great thrill from pushing to, and exceeding, my limits, which would be signalled by that bitter-sweet burning sensation in my legs and lungs. However, at some point I became dissatisfied with what I had, and my eyes started to roam, looking to see who was running faster, and how much admiration they seemed to be receiving. Ok, I’ll admit, I’d become envious of what they had — greater speed and higher runner status!

As a consequence, I headed down a sidetrack of sorts, which I thought would bring me more joy. For a while it seemed to do just that, as I learned to cover more distance in less time, and to pass many people along the way. As time went on, I could finally see that I was fighting a battle I could never win. There would always going to be someone faster, and more admired! … and I was starting to naturally slow down anyway as I pushed towards the half-century mark.
Then, a curious thing happened. I found that I missed the simple, unadulterated joy of just going for a run, and for no other reason than ’just because’ (as coined in Slumdog Millionaire). It was a visit to the Moroccan Sahara desert that would act as the catalyst to bring me back home, back into a state where I was once again fully aware of just my own presence in the moment at hand, and without experiencing any compulsion to emulate or compete with others.
I had rediscovered the source of my joy, and I could now see that simply having the good fortune to be able to put one foot in front of the other was all that I’d ever needed.

