The greatest gift we can give to this world....and ultimately ourselves is....our self, the unfiltered, unshielded plain and simple, fully in the moment, in the person in front of us, self. Not the yeaterday, tomorrow or 5 minutes from now, but in the moment self. Strangely, running ultra races has taught me this.
To race, to go beyond what I know I can do, to push through fear and pain and uncertainty, requires one to be fully present in the moment, you lose all ability to put up any sort of shield, you become who you really are and I have yet to meet a soul on the trail in those moments, when they are stripped down, to be anything less than beautiful.
It is then I see our creator in my fellow man and in myself. what I didn't realize until last night at work, after seeing patient after patient after patient, that I can experience that in any moment. If I am fully present in the moment, in the patient in front of me, without shield, filter, guard, without being in the past or thinking 5 minute or an hour in the future.
If I can be fully present in the moment and in the patient, a magical thing happens. They become fully in the moment, lose their filter, their guard, their shield and 2 beautiful souls are revealed, a connection is made, and healing occurs....without medication, a shot, a pat on the back. This is why I run crazy distances, crazy courses, always pushing always climbing, to learn and grow and see, really see.
All of this made possible by some crazy coach that told me once, "demand the impossible". I thought he was high. ....he was ;) ...and now I am too.
Comments
Beautifully said!
You are spot on with what you wrote. You've found one of the great secrets about what life is all about... to see people and things as they really are, and really will be. I call them Holy Moments. Like you, running too, is an instrument for me, distilling down to all that is true and good. I have been able to grow closer to the Creator and His good earth.
Good post. I read a very interesting comment from someone to an article I wrote about running and mental health a while ago, where they said that running felt very similar to mindfulness meditation. I think it's a fascinating subject.
NOW, you are ready!