Fear - the subtle cage we build for ourselves

Its a shock when you realise the freedom you thought you had is just a beautifully crafted and well furnished cage. In a desperate, and hopefully not final, attempt to get fit i have noticed how I still really enjoy running. However the thing that is preventing me from running further ad stronger and faster is not just my body. Painful knees and a large gut do limit the range a the moment, but the real inhibitor for me at the moment - as I realised this morning - is fear. I am afraid of how running will make me feel - that slightly tight feeling in my throat, the uncomfortability of breathlessness, the potential stitch - I don't like to feel this way - and I have become addicted to feeling comfortable.
So I find myself in a very subtle, personally built, and very comfortable cage. I fear the consequences of running long distances and it is preventing me getting to the point where my running is doing me any good.
So - how to break out?
Here's what I've got so far...
1) keep running
2) be realistic - I am no longer as good as I was at school. 3.5 miles is now, for the moment, too far!
3) keep running
4) build it up slowly - tomorrow morning I will still be overweight, just a little bit less so.
5) keep running
6) my other big problem is discipline
so
7) keep running.

I'm beginning to think these things might apply in other circumstances where fear has taken over our lives.

A final thought - Grace destroy fear and leaves it dismembered on the field of battle.
So it is grace that will truly set me free - to run, and run and run and run!

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