in a recent Facebook post, I signalled that some changes were coming; essentally picking a theme each week, and using that theme to create content for the “weekly dollop of awesome”, blog posts and the NMMFG TV video.
just for a bit of fun, the theme (over the next 26 weeks anyway) would be selected by choosing a “word beginning with…” and working through the alphabet…
for various reasons, this didn’t start on Sunday as planned, and will now commence next Sunday (hopefully).
so that provides a chance for something non-themed – something that has probably been waiting to be written for quite some time. or developing for some time, and now ready to come to the surface and be published…
warning: it’s not about running
the decision to become fit, healthy and capable of running a marathon was just the start. the start of a never-ending journey. the start of a voyage of self-discovery, life transformation, and more change than you can shake a stick at (though why you would shake a stick at anything is really beyond my understanding).
that fact has been fully accepted now, and while the passion for running is undeniably here to stay, there was other stuff that needed to be figured out. stuff that goes beyond running, both in terms of the personal journey, but also more to do with “purpose”.
you see, the process of becoming a runner opened eyes. opened the mind. opened the heart.
it isn’t just about running, it’s about passion. it’s about living a life based on passion. pursuing your passion, following your bliss. it’s about allowing your heart more control than your head, in terms of “career”, life, relationships, goals, dreams and just about anything else you can think of.
running is the vehicle, a wonderfully simple one at that…
the problem is most people are scared or put off by this stuff
a lot of self-development literature has passed over these eyeballs, a lot of personal development audio content has caressed these eardrums.
and it seems that much of it is intended for a non-mass audience. most of it uses terms, expressions, words and phrases that have the potential to turn “normal people” off the message.
so this really is where the seed of an idea regarding “purpose” came from. to take these ideas, to take these fundamentally sound principles, and somehow present them in a relatively “normal” fashion, without reference to specific philosophical frameworks, ideologies or philosophies.
personal spiritual development for the common man (and they don’t come much more common than me!)
so the story will continue to evolve and be told
sure there will still be running reports, running-related articles – especially on the Facebook page. however, a realisation was had today, that yet again I have merely arrived at another start line.
in fact, let’s make this statement right here and now – there is no actual finish line, just a series of milestones, water stations and start lines.
the running is practically taking care of itself now, the health, fitness, energy levels, goalsetting and planning – all the basic components are in place. and now it’s time to take all those and use them to actually build an amazing life.
only it won’t actually be “building” as such. more a case of opening eyes, mind and heart, to allow an amazing life to happen.
how the hell will “amazing” simply happen?
that’s the thing, right? we grow up, we get taught that we make things happen, that we are the ones who have to take control, plan all the details and take every tiny step required to realise the plan…
and when we do that, we celebrate our victories, take pride in everything we have created for ourselves.
but how many of you have striven and laboured hard for a lifetime, only to accumulate a whole stack of frustrations, a whole series of failures, and an increasingly sceptical view of life and all the riches that don’t seem to be available to you?
and then you might read some self-help stuff, and dismiss it. because it talks about “detachment”, it talks about creating a “zen mind”. you read stuff about “attracting abundance” and you have a good laugh about that, with yor mates, at the pub, in between the 4th and 5th pint of beer for the day.
because that stuff ain’t written for ordinary men and women. so the vast majority of the planet miss out on some very important stuff.
childlike thinking, it’s the way of your future
the belief in magic. gazing at the world around you in wonderment and awe. an innocent trust in your ability to be anything you like “when you grow up”.
when did we lose that? some time between our early school years, and entering the world of work, most probably…
but look at the people who have “success” – whether you measure that in terms of riches, experiences, relationships…
often they are portrayed as not having taken “no” for answer. think about that. children don’t really get that concept either. light bulbs, cars, flight, men walking on the moon… anything of note, any major invention, it all came from an attitude of “why can’t or why shouldn’t x…?”
that is exactly how a child would respond… e.g. “you can’t walk on the moon”, “but why not?” comes the reply
a child has innocence, a child doesn’t have a head full of knowledge of how to do things, or why things can’t be done. a child has imagination, and a belief that if it can be imagined, then it can be real.
simple really, isn’t it?
watch this increasingly empty space
the space between my ears that is. emptying of all the negative, all the reasons why we can’t do pretty much anything we like. emptying of all the thinking, all the restrictions and all the limitations imposed by others.
emptying of all the “this is what you must do”, of all the pre-fabricated templates that have been handed down as “the one true way of living your life exactly like the rest of us are expected to”.
and making room for belief, for hope, for imagination.
making room so magic can happen.