(Source: lucky-you33)
After minimal training, 5 hours of sleep, and one (only one!) energy drink, I ran my first half marathon with my little brother at Disneyland this morning. My finishing time wasn’t that impressive (2:26:26), but I was happy that I at least I got it done in under two and a half hours.
Running has always been a huge part of my life. I mostly fell in love with it for the crazy runner’s highs that I get and the peace and quiet that allows me the time to think. And for this race, since I was fundraising for cancer research, I thought a lot about what I would do if I didn’t even have the option of running when I wanted to. I know a lot of people who hate running or exercise in general and at Mile 11 today, I was whole-heartedly on their side. But whenever I start to give into thoughts like that, I think about how there are people in hospitals across the country who probably wish they could get out there and run, whether they’re cancer patients or soldiers who lost their limbs or victims of horrible accidents. Running, health, youth… this is a privilege.
At any moment, our relationship with our bodies can change. We don’t know if it will happen gradually or suddenly for us. So in the meantime, while you still can, go out there and push yourself, learn what your body is capable of, practice getting out of the physical hurdles with mental positivity and learn to love the sweat.
Which is why I’ve come to the conclusion that everyone in New York should stop dating. Because, really, what I’ve learned from dating in this city is that everyone is dating because that’s what they think they’re supposed to do—and not necessarily what they want to do. For whatever reason, individuals see “dating” as pivotal and necessary to their existence in New York, which, in turn, leads to the dissatisfaction of constantly dating the wrong people. New Yorkers date frivolously and freely, and there’s no regard given to discerning who we are dating. We only seem to care that we are dating at all.
It seems like New Yorkers are following a predetermined trajectory (from whatever number of external influences they are driven by) and in turn creating a self-fulfilling prophecy in which the likelihood of finding love diminishes as neurosis increases. In a city where everything is available to most people on demand, I feel like I’m watching some kind of brutal emotional massacre by overstimulation. No one knows exactly what it is they want—people seem to want everything, all at once.
Kat George, “Why Everyone In New York Should Just Stop Dating”
The deepest kind of love that you can have for anyone is that ability to let them disappear when they need to.
Andrew McMahon, On “Hostage”
