ThomasJakel.com
  • Home
  • About
  • Media & Short Bio
  • Projects
    • AfricaX
    • Strandschicht - Virtual Personal Assistants
    • EcoToiletten
    • YES Founders Foundation
    • Non-Water Sanitation
    • Book: Youth-led Changemaking
  • Contact

Blog

Dealing with the minds story

5/10/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Sunday Morning 6 a.m. I hardly slept more than six hours. Getting out of bed? Already? It's only 6 a.m.
Yep, dude.
That is what you promised yourself last night before you set the alarm clock. Don't you remember? The 30K training run, that was on your goal list for this week?
Yeah, I remember. But it looks like it will rain.
The fresher the better. At least the rain, if it ever starts raining, will keep your body at a tolerable temperature.
...
There must have been a bunch of other thoughts roaming around my mind. But I started concentrating on my breath. Once I had made it to the bathroom and taken the sleepiness away with a splash of cold water in my face, I became more alert, friendly towards the tricks the mind wanted to play on me, but also firm in my resolve to go out for the run.
I know that once I set a foot in front of the door, no matter what the time of the day, late at night or before sunrise, I am in love with running.
I just have to make it in front of the door.
That's all.
That's the battle. The mind against my awareness, alertness, presence. There are always stories in my head, why now is a bad time to start running. My mind doesn't get tired of inventing new reasons:
  • You are tired
  • You still have to finish project X
  • It's raining
  • It's too early to run
  • It's too late to run
  • There are too many tourists in the street
  • ...
To be fair...if running wasn't a priority for me, than all of these points might make sense. But since I only really have 5 things I want to enjoy every day in my awesome morning routine, and sweating at least once a day is one of them, the mind's stories aren't helping.
But the stories come up. If I want it or not. All I can do is embrace them. Be aware of them. Laugh at the sometimes absurd excuses my mind makes to keep me from doing the one thing I set my alarm for.
I have a cup of steaming herbal tea.
I meditate.
I put on my shoes.
And I set a foot in front of the door.
---
P.S.: The week after that I travelled to Regensburg in the south of Germany to join their Marathon. The run there wouldn't have been as enjoyable without the 30K training run the week before.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Thomas is an entrepreneur and social-leader based in Berlin Germany. Find more on him below...

    More on Author

    Archives

    December 2016
    October 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Pictures courtesy of www.christinmarit.com and www.johannangermann.com 
Privacy Policy

​Datenschutzerklärung

  • Home
  • About
  • Media & Short Bio
  • Projects
    • AfricaX
    • Strandschicht - Virtual Personal Assistants
    • EcoToiletten
    • YES Founders Foundation
    • Non-Water Sanitation
    • Book: Youth-led Changemaking
  • Contact