Anniversaries

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about all sorts of things. Always at this time of year there are those anniversaries that make you contemplate the state of your life. What have you done with yourself up to this point? Are you happy with your progress or has there been any at all? Has your childhood plan been achieved or has it been replaced by a more practical one as time and life experience alter your perceptions? There will always be these questions…..some may never truly be answered and others may be a work in progress till your very last breath. One thing for sure is that I have never been one of those guys to wallow in a pit of self absorbed pity!!! The glass is always half full….sometimes it does slightly slip below the water mark but there is a constant little battle to top it up to happy levels…..otherwise my motor would not run to expected levels of vroom.
This May brings with it memories of last years journey with my father to Spain and our Camino….as I read the old posts I unselfconciously reignite a constant want in me to return to this magical place. It doesn’t matter to me when or how but I know for a fact that I will be there once again puffing and panting up some steep hill wondering to myself why in Gods name brought to this place…..then on the crest of the hill as I take a breather and look back over the rolling hills I suddnly realise to myself that their is a higher power out there and in that moment I am experiencing it…..the power of the Camino. You don’t necessarily have to go to far off lands to get these feelings but it helps to take you out of your comfort zone. Never be happy in your comfort zone. I’ve always felt that a bloody comfort zone is the worst thing that people hang onto. It makes us complacent and lazy. This will be the Summer that I bring my comfort zone with me……pack it nice and tight into the back of the car ….drag it out and show it what its been missing all these years and perhaps there will be a separation between the 2……the comfort will see itself off to be used on occasion while I find myself in altogether different kind of zone.
The first hurdle for me is to regain my fitness levels. I want able to run a marathon in a decent enough time…so next week I have been invited by my youngest brother to partake in a 10km run in Cork City so …who knows what that will make of me. It seems like an insurmountable hurdle but I feel that I have in what it takes to achieve this goal.
Wish me luck everyone. I hope that I will be looking back on this page next year with memories of many races and runs to be proud of.

Listen

What a gift we have been given? The ability to pick up a sound from a distance. Recognition of a fresh sound coming at you from absolutely nothing! An old voice…a familiar song on the radio. The ability to listen and appreciate the beauty of a song and sounds from far off lands. I know some people may not have these abilities but I do and I need to celebrate that I can hear. There is a big difference between a persons ability to listen and therir ability to actually hear. This can be applied to conversation or song. So next time youu feel the urge to tune out of the conversation…..step back and listen ….listen to the ones you love….the songs you love….the places you love….Listen to the silence and the noise within the silence and the power of the silent moment. Feel how it can be more powerful than the loudest of clangs or the annoying noises that fill everyday life.

Everyday life can deliver the most wonderful of sounds and it is my delight and joy to assist you all in this journey……Sit back and listen….Sorry for the long intervals…I was listening for the silence

No Spring Chicken

There was a time when a little bit of flu would be the least of your worries. You’d sniffle it out for a few days ….get your tea and toast and snuggle under the covers. As you progress in age the old joints and tendons creak with the affects of the onset of the influenza. Your body coughs out the badness and your muscles ache with cold and weariness as the virus wracks through your body. Your vision gets blurred and you don’t feel the need to speak for days on end. You curl up at the end of the day in front of the fire feeling a small bit sorry for yourself. Some people would insert “very” in the place of “small bit”.

The hard part for me at the moment is that this now nearly bi-annual attack on my body has interfered with my renewed interest in running. In the last couple of weeks you could have seen me spluttering and coughing through the byways and back roads of mallow town. Slowly but surely I have been trying to increase my fitness levels. I refer back to the initial onset of old age diagnosis when I reveal how difficult it has been. That old saying “You aint gettin’ any younger” seems to crop up in front of me like a “men at work” sign along my lonely wet training runs. All you can do is run past those signs to your final destination. With the long nights slowly creeping in and the weather gradually getting warmer….perhaps the experience will be more enjoyable.

I lay in constant anticipation of the moment when I can finish a long run with a sense of satisfaction. It may not be that far off but like all Everest ascents these moments can always feel as if they are the furthest away and most difficult to reach. I may keep a diary of the runs I do and keep it updated on a regular basis. I try to keep my runs regular…every 2nd day but the bloody flu has knocked this on the head for a few days. The little devil on my shoulder keeps telling me to stay by the fire…you’d be crazy to go out in this cold ….what with a warm fire keeping you nice and toasty……I’d like to think that my Angel has the ability to block out these negative comments and remind me that the fire will welcome you back after your run and it’s not really that cold out anyway!!!!!

That is the one positive thing that I get from running….the ability to challenge your negative self…they are equally the same….the positive and the negative…..but I always feel that the positive is getting the better of its negative brother. Don’t get me wrong….there have been those days when my barometer of life have stayed in the negative…but at the moment big brother has come out to play and it feels good to be alive. All I have to do now is wait for this bloody flu to go. The whole house has had it for what seems like an eternity……coughing and spluttering for weeks…..the whole country seems to have it.