Lessons From My Journey

With only 5 days until my big run, I thought I would share with you some of the things I have learned since taking up running for the Afghan Women’s Writing Project. There has been A LOT! And, I am sure after Saturday, many more. Thanks for sharing this journey!

Physically

1. My body has changed shape, tightened up, feels more powerful and capable. That is the thing about bodies, they are very capable if we can just put them to good use!

2. A little disappointingly, according to the scales I have put on 1kg. Go figure! I was expecting to be 10kgs lighter by now!

3. My body was built to move, and by starting this campaign and moving it daily, I enjoy moving it daily and will continue to move it daily!

4. Moving it daily gives me, “me time” fresh (hot insect riddled) air allows inspiration and ideas to float on in (sometimes with a fly) and plant little seeds and ideas.

5. Running outside allows me to be amongst nature, even the annoying parts of it. Frogs croaking and ducks flapping by remind me of the unimportance of “me”- we are all in this together.

ah ha how powerful are physical beings are if we let ourselves be physical!

Mentally

1. Our minds are conditioned to go ‘away’ from pain and ‘towards’ pleasure and have trouble accepting ‘what is’.

2. My mind automatically senses pain when I run and therefore works over-time to convince me why I need to stop running.

3. Through realising that my mind is like an old cassette player and ignoring it’s worn out tune I can go beyond what it thinks my capabilities are.

4. My mind is NOT the gospel. It is a bunch of retro tapes from the 80s. I am operating more from the heart and giving it less credit. (A work in progress mind you!)

5. A great way to beat the mind at its own game is to repeat a mantra over and over as I run. Through lots of practice the mind gets the message that it is not really needed anymore.

Emotionally

"People... who need people..."

1. Human beings need other human beings. Or as Barbara Streisand so aptly put it “People, who need people, are the luckiest people in the world!”

2. Taking you along for this journey has strengthened me. Running for a cause for other people has strengthened me. Running for connectedness with others has empowered me.

3. Empathy- reading stories from Afghan Women Writers and trying to find a place of empathy, and then finding it and connecting via Facebook with one of the writers opened up a place in my heart that I didn’t know existed.

4. People want to be kind, compassionate, generous, helpful. It is within everyone and by boldly putting myself out there for this project I have been bowled over by the generosity of people and businesses from all walks of life.

Spiritually

1. To run, to really run I am discovering you have to face the demons of both your inner and outer worlds.

(Inner- bad thoughts, outer- floods, grasshoppers, flies and heat) BUT the secret (which I am yet to experience but hope to!) is to completely transcend both of these and run from someplace else. From the heart.

I hope on Saturday I can transcend all!

This project has made me feel connected to so many wonderful human beings. Whether you live in Hay, Dubbo, Sydney, Christchurch, Brooklyn or Kabul- it has reminded me that human beings all deserve and want and need the same things.

We are all in this together.

Let’s continue to look out for each other!

If you would like to make a pledge for my run on Saturday please do so below – if you are new here and would like more info on what I am doing view here.