For the love

Once all of the parties, the gift buying, the wrapping, and the manic rushing around is finished; we all have a chance to sit back, relax, and finally enjoy spending time with friends and family for Christmas.  In Texas with "the fam," life slows down and I do have some time to relax and reflect on things; which is a good thing considering January 1st will be here soon and I always set a few goals for each year.

My current read right now is a book called "Born to Run," which was recommended by a few of my runner friends, and I have not been able to keep it down.  I'm in the middle of the book and I've just got through the part where the Tarahumara have just won the Leadville 100 (an extreme ultramarathon in Colorado), beating ultrarunning legend (do these exist?) Ann Trason in what was described in the book as one of the harshest, most unforgiving ultras (as if running the distance of four marathons in a single stint isn't harsh) in the year she set the women's record.  There are several chapters dedicated to this particular race in 1994, in which a cast of characters are observing the "Tarahumara" to discover the secret of why they can run like they do.  

I'm sure there's more to come, because I am a slow reader and this isn't a full book report, but what caught my attention was an observation that one of the characters made about this tribe of "running people" at about mile 72 (think about this for a second) of the Leadville 100... he said he saw the Tarahumara pass, running in their primitive sandals and wearing what was described as "skirts" (they are a indigenous Native American tribe living in the mountains of northern Mexico), were beaming with....

joy.

Yes.  joy.

Let that sink in... a lot of folks that will read this blog don't think of joy when running "a" mile, much less 100.  But that's what this reporter saw... and something clicked.  Especially as it related to why American runners aren't competing at the same levels as the Kenyans, Ethiopians, etc.  

We stopped running because we loved it... we now run because it gets us what we "want."  

I can relate to that.  I fell in love with running a few years ago, but for some reason during this Fall's training period, my joy fell off because I was focused on a medal, a distance, and beating a time when I crossed the finish line in Savannah.  For a while, I ran because I "had" to, not because I wanted to.  In the month and a half after finishing that race and taking time to relax, I've let myself enjoy it again.  Yesterday, I noticed that my endurance is back... I did 3.6 miles but really could have done more. 

The author noted that something changed back in the 80's that caused Americans to lose our edge... it stopped being about passion for the sport and became about endorsement deals, medals, times, and having a great body, and it stopped being about running itself.  We treated running as a means to an end instead of an end unto itself.  And in a sport that Americans competed well in, now we envy Kenyans and wonder if they have some super-secret gene that makes them super-human runners... and maybe it's not so much.  Perhaps it's because for them, they just love to run and aren't caught up in our scientific training plans and just take pleasure in going out and going fast.     

But is this blog about running... because I know that for some of you the thought of running makes you want to gag :-).  It's not.  Because honestly this principle applies to just about everything in life.  

The secret to being great is doing what you love, and loving what you're doing.  

- and - 

Ultimately, if we really want to succeed we must enjoy the means as much as the ends.  

I know that it's "New Years Resolution" time and for many of us, including me, this includes making promises to ourselves to do some things that we aren't really looking forward to doing.  We look in the mirror, our souls, and our habits and we see that we aren't quite the person we want to be and because it's a new year we promise to ourselves that this year will be "the year" that we... 

• Lose that weight and keep it off (actually one of my goals)
• Read through the Bible this year (another one of my goals)
• Launch or accelerate your career 
• Run a marathon
• or insert yours here :-)

And for most of us, those goals die a slow death and around mid-February we are back to where we were before.  

Perhaps... and I may be stretching this a little... but perhaps is it because we treat our New Year's commitments like that "run a lap" that our High School PE teacher made us do because we were messing up? We do something we hate, expecting to get something good out of it... and wonder why it's so hard to be good?  

• Why do we join gyms and pay crazy expensive sign up fees in January and quit by March?  
• Why does brussel sprouts taste just as horrible in March as they did last year?  
• Why hasn't our Bible been cracked open since January 15th...  and it's June!  

Exercise, eating right, reading lists, spiritual disciplines... these are pretty normal things that those of us that are Christ-followers probably have on our "list."  And I suppose that we struggle just as much on these when we "gut 'em out" like anybody else does.  Perhaps, if we found a way to love these things, or stop doing things that we assume are "good behaviors" out of compulsion and found good behaviors that we loved then we would be more successful.  Like... 

• Maybe the gym isn't the best place for you to exercise?  Somehow, I think our idea of "real" exercise is hiring an expensive trainer that just yells at us for an hour.  Maybe we just need to ditch the torturer and just go with a friend who lets us chill and do things at our pace.  Gyms aren't my favorite places to exercise, personally, I much prefer outdoors.  My idea of great exercise is a run listening to my favorite playlist and a beautiful day... or a hike out in the woods.  I have friends who dance to stay active (can I give a shout out to my crazy swing dance friends?).  What's wild is that when we do the active thing we love, we don't really call it a "workout," do we?  We just went running, or went hiking, or pumped some iron, or went dancing.  You know, a "one size fits all" staying active strategy doesn't work real well ... but it does make LA Fitness a lot of money :-)
• If you hate brussel sprouts, you aren't going to make your diet healthy by eating them.  You're just going to throw up (either literally or figuratively).  There's a lot of great tasting healthy food out there - so don't feel like you have to get boxed into whatever today's fad is.  Experiment and find what you like... and don't feel like you have to give up the "bad" stuff you love either.  We should enjoy our meals (even if we are trying to "be good"), shouldn't we?  
• When thinking about spiritual disciplines, think about why you are choosing the discipline you want to incorporate (in my case, reading through the Bible)?  Is it because you have experienced the love of Christ in such an overpowering way that you are in love with the God who desires and is pursuing you, or is it because you want to get something out of it that will benefit you?  Ultimately, our love for God will motivate us to pursue the things that grow our relationship with Him.  Willpower, while it may produce some good results, doesn't ultimately produce the life that God desires for us... so this year, I am praying that I come into my Bible study with an appreciation for who God is and out of a love for encountering Him in that day.  Remember, it was for "the joy set before Him" that Jesus went to the cross too (Hebrews 12:2)

At the end of the day, I'm sure that this "do what you love" strategy may not be the "results" strategy that we as Americans look for, but over the long haul I've found it to be the only one that really lasts.

Besides, you can only torture yourself so long... then the internal mutiny happens.

Perhaps, by finding our natural desires that fit with the "2012 me," we not only become healthier, wealthier, and wiser... but we also do it longer with a smile on our face.

Like a pack of crazy natives at Mile 72.