Living and running like the River Shannon.

This blog is about storytelling. In the last 10 years since my first Marathon I have learned so much about myself from running. And the stories helped me with that. And it changed my life.

The reason? I love running. So it comes easy. And yet a few times it became hard. Sometimes I cried. Sometimes I laughed. Sometimes I wanted to quit. Sometimes I wanted to keep going past the finish line of a 'race'.

All of those moments were what they were. Moments. So I let them in and do their thing. And let it play out. And what happened was learning.

About all the feelings attached to all those moments. And then I asked better questions. Which of these feelings did I like most? How could I recreate those moments? What was I aware of in those moments? Where did my thoughts come from? Were they real or illusions?

The discoveries were experimental and counter-intuitive. Here they are: The more I concentrated on achievement, the less I enjoyed what I loved doing. The more I just went with the flow and listened to my body (inner core), the deeper the experience.

The more I planned for a moment in the future, the less fun I had training.

So I started 'training' in the moment, aware of everything around me and the feelings inside me. And it became flow. Like a river. Like the Shannon near my house. Obstacles came and went in the flow like rocks and tree trunks on a rivers path. Sometimes there was a deluge and sometimes there was a drought.

Like the Shannon near my house.

And all was OK. It became joy over effort. Momentary joy over planned masterpieces. And the races became moments themselves. Joyful moments.

It became effortless, limitless, boundary free and utter fun.

It became effortless, limitless, boundary free and utter fun.

Now for the consciousness part. The only commonality needed for transferring this to other areas of life is LOVE. Find other things that are good for you and you love doing so much it gives you energy and makes time disappear. Then apply the same principles.

And let the flow commence. Like the mighty River Shannon. All the way to the Atlantic. To become part of something bigger. something you were always part of. Yet now consciously.

Patte 08/06/2018 xxxxx