Life's a marathon Allegory #1

Berlin Marathon

Hi all,

I'm so happy to see the sun today and to be rid of the cold that's been following my for nearly a month. So starting yesterday I've started my running program, 2 days into the program I've already doubled my implication into it! Last time I started was the day before I caught that interminable cold and the same time the sun went on vacation for 3 weeks. It's the first time I try this program, I've upgraded to an intermediate program averaging 16km a week for 12 weeks. Yesterday was painful and exhausting, today much better already.

So 37 minutes of running gives you some time to reflect on things. I was comparing running to life in general and there are a lot to learn from running which can be applied to life at large.

Instead of putting all my thoughts into one post, I'll break it down in a few posts to make it easy to read. At the end of which you will have all the tools you need to get to your goals in life! Ok, that's a little bit far fetched, but I hope it will helps!

So here's the Life's a Marathon Allegory #1

"Experience is more important than physical shape."

No matter how healthy and strong your body is, you can burn all your energy within a few hundred meters, long distance running is all about pacing and balancing your energy level. Life is similar, you start with great ambitions, travel the world, become CEO of a Fortune 500 enterprise, be a professional athlete or a star singer but without any plans and a way to balance all aspects of life those magnificent goals are unattainable. You can be young, full of energy and motivation but without seeking help from mentors, or experience your chances of succeeding greatly reduced.

We have to face the fact that life is not easy. Running a marathon when you've never did any long runs before is not easy. It's only through experience, multiple tryouts, and the help of mentor or a trainer that you can run a complete marathon to your full potential. There's more to it than just getting outside and starting to run. This is why most people peak at running in their mid-thirties and early forties, that's when experience meet physical strength at their peaks.

Gaining experience in life is key to succeeding.

Stay tuned for Life's a Marathon Allegory #2

Quote - Paulo Coehlo - Sunny Days And Rain

Here's a quote directly from Paulo Coehlo's Twitter.

"If you only walk on sunny days you'll never reach your destination"

I haven't posted a blog in a long time. It seams like I haven't been walking on rainy days since it's been raining for at least 2 weeks here. But I've been slowed down by a nasty cold the past weeks. We had some sun yesterday and I'm feeling better today. Seems like the cold was waiting for a sunny day to walk on.

So to all people living in Eastern Canada right now, don't stop walking cause it doesn't seams like the rain wants to go away anytime soon as it's hiding again after one day out!

P.S.: A lot of people asked me how to comment to my posts, you needed to have a Google account. But I've found a setting to allow comment from anyone now. So everybody can leave comments.

Video: McGurk Effect - Is Seeing Believing?

This is a very interesting video on how our brain can override what we perceive. Brings us to wonder what else our brain overrides without us knowing.

Video: Inspirational Speeches from Movies

Here's a nice video. Some of the best inspirational quotes from movies. It's a bit fast, I wish we could hear the whole speeches at time but still nice to watch.

Enjoy!!

Quote - Marilyn Manson - Going All The Way

Photo by Georges Biard

I've always said, a good quote is a good quote no matter who said it. If you can gain something from a quote or a saying take it no matter who said it. Some 3 year old kids sometimes have insightful saying. Some serial killer could say something meaningful about life. Who knows? Every persons have their own baggage of experience from which we can all learn a bit.

A lot of people would not approve all the things Marilyn Manson does. Very few parents would like their kids to follow his tracks. But nonetheless, here's a very good quote from a man who's actions are questionable.

"A lot of people as gone most of the way, so you really have to to go all the way to make something in life."

Of course "all the way" can mean different things to different persons. As with all quotes, everybody finds the meaning that fits them.

This quotes comes from the book Everybody Loves You When You're Dead from Neil Strauss. This particular section with Marilyn Manson ends with a pretty unsettling citation... "I think I have a lot more in store that people really won't expect". Coming from a person like that, I REALLY don't know what to expect!

The Dark Powers of Waiting

Since I don't have children, one of the things I've always wondered is at what point in your child's life do you tackle on sensitive matters? At what point do storks stop delivering babies to your door? That one isn't too bad, the question will come one day or another and you just answer it truthfully. But what about the more subtle things like making their own bed or folding their own cloths. It's been done for them for years and someday, somehow they must start doing it on their own. It's easy to say that you simply ask, but when? Don't forget it's years of habits, you can't just change that overnight. It wouldn't be fair for the kid or the parent.

Now, what about the other aspects of life? Waiting, gaining habits is as much powerful in any aspects of life.

Personal life, the longer you wait before starting working on your personal goals, the lazier you'll get and harder it will be to break your lazy habits to take out challenges. If you run everyday it's almost effortless to get up and run a few miles before going to work but if you never or rarely do it, it's going to be extremely demanding to do. You find excuses to delay your running, like humm writing a blog post... I'm going right after this...

In a relationship, with someone you love, a friend or family, if something bothers you the longer you wait before bringing it up the tougher it will be to tell the other. Even at one point you'll start to doubt yourself and try to convince your own self that it's non-important. I said if something bothers you but same goes for the things you like and love about someone. The longer you wait the harder it will be to get it out.

According to Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer, a dog can learn any trick or new behavior at any age at the same rate as when it's young. But you've surely heard dog owners say something like "I hate it when it does that but it's to old now to learn otherwise". A dog behavior is mostly based on your own day to day routine. Most of the time changing a dog behavior would mean changing your own way of doing things and that is often the problem to training an old dog new tricks. It's not the dog who is too old to learn, it's the owner who can't change its years long habits with its dog. I love watching the Dog Whisperer with Cesar Milan cause most of the time it turns out into couple therapy instead of dog therapy. It shows just how most of the time, when something is going wrong, you can track the source to yourself and adapt to change the world around you.

See the world around you as dogs who can always learn new tricks and behaviors but to teach them new tricks it is you who must change and adapt to new habits.

Video: Free Hugs

Here's a video to cheer you all. Lots of good things in life are free and are worth more than anything money can buy.