Sunday, June 10, 2012

How Running Has Changed You(?)

Through his writing,George Sheehan always seemed to find a way to get you to consider how your running effected you.Perhaps I should say,how your running could effect you, if, you were alert and aware to what was going on.Sheehan knew that the mental and spiritual components of running were as real as the physical.
It's unfortunate that no one has come along since Sheehan to fill the void of what I call the runner/philosopher.As I've said before,he was not only a good runner but he really loved the whole running experience.I sense that much of what he wrote was directed to those who also had a passion for running.I have a quote by him above my desk that says, "Each Day I Run I Learn More"
In the following you will first read a comment, then a response to it by Sheehan below--' The running experience should not become an end in itself, because at this point runners may lose perspective,internalize questionable priority systems and place self above everything else.'
Dr.Sheehan wrote: "Runners,of course,see it differently. Running is an end in itself,as well as a means.It does change our perspective. It does give us the sense of humor to see ourselves as we never have before. And it does drive us to change our priorities toward our own truth and rules and roles,not those thrust upon us."
The big question is,when the realization comes to us,this change in our perspective that Sheehan mentions,do we have the courage to change or not be conformed to what others expect us to be?

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