The Rose Bowl Half Marathon: https://www.mccourtfoundation.org/event/rose-bowl-half-5k/
This will be my first HM in a decade or so. There are many surface reasons as to why it will be possible for me to run this length, most notably the fact that my body doesn’t hurt anymore when I walk or run. But more important than any of the physical-only changes was the fact that (as mentioned in the latest newsletter) I decided that I didn’t have to suffer, especially not to that extent. It is crazy how much I used to buy into the idea that I must suffer.
But what I didn’t mention in the newsletter is that this “not suffering” idea applies to non-physical things as well. I mean, it’s difficult to separate physical from non-physical anyway. (Even science has caught up to this fact. What you believe reflects in your body. And I say “even” because science, by definition, relies on external proof first. Something must happen for someone to examine it after the fact. If there isn’t something observable for “others” to agree on, it’s not considered science. Anyway, much recent content about health talks about the importance of the placebo effect. Beliefs reflect in the body; even if they didn’t reflect, it would be the belief of “beliefs don’t reflect in the body” reflecting in the body. This is what I mean when I say everything is a story.)
The most important change that occurred was that I decided to stop suffering (or at least suffer less) overall. And out of that important change, the most important specific case was that I decided to eliminate crazy people from my life. If you look at the calendar and can tell that it’s August 19 and nevertheless do not accept that you aren’t doing what you said you would be doing by August 19, you are crazy. If you look at the clock and you can tell that it’s 1pm or 2pm or 3pm or whatever time of day it is, yet you keep making up delusional excuses about why you aren’t where you said you would be at 1pm or 2pm or 3pm, you are crazy.
Now, of course, something might happen that prevents you from doing what you said you would do. Accidents happen. Natural disasters happen. Sometimes you just forget. All of that is possible.
However, the difference between crazy people and non-crazy people is that non-crazy people, in such situations, adjust. They look at the calendar/watch, accept that they aren’t doing what they said they would be doing, and adjust. Actually adjust, not pretend-adjust. Meaning, they don’t adjust in such a way that it’s obvious they will be required to adjust over and over again. Simply put, they don’t lie. They have no delusions that they failed. It’s okay to fail! Just adjust and move on! That’s what turns that “failure” into a non-failure!
Meanwhile, crazy people look at the calendar/watch, see they aren’t doing what they said they would be doing by that time, and keep explaining why they are right about not doing what they said they would be doing. I really don’t know what else to call this besides craziness. 😂 It’s like arguing for why it’s right that they suck. In trying to avoid failure, they keep failing over and over again. It’s really crazy. It really is craziness. Greed (over-claiming what you cannot do) is a form of illness. Lying without even intending to and not even realizing that it’s a lie is also a form of illness.
If you eliminate crazy people like this from your life, I can guarantee you, you will see a health improvement, many of them extremely physical and tangible.
I mean, imagine running a half marathon, looking at your watch, seeing the time right there, reading the time correctly, and yet, somehow, being unable to adjust. That is utter craziness. I seriously think that the elimination of crazy people is what is helping me see the time, see my body, and see my mind so that I can make actual adjustments. It’s because keeping them around is in and of itself a form of illness–the delusion that craziness must be accepted. That is not true. One does not have to deal with bullshit for more than one second. It’s not necessarily a “failure” to not hit the goals; it is a continuous chain of failure to keep denying it. In attempting to avoid failure, you fail. In simply failing, you win.