To feel alive!

Nothing makes me feel more alive than running. When I am running, I am free. I am worry free. I am care free. Nothing else matters at that precise moment because I am so in the moment that there is no room for anything else. I’m sure many have experienced this feeling, maybe not with running but with something else. You know that feeling when something you are passionate about has your full focus, your full attention? You are so enticed by it you forget what time it is. You are so entranced by it that you forget to eat. You are so in the moment that you forget to sleep. You might even forget what day it is. Loud sounds become dull hums. Your vision becomes clearer than normal. You see things that you have never seen before. You notice things that you have never noticed before. All of a sudden those little things that plague your mind day to day become non-existent. You are in the moment. You are alive, in that delicious moment.

“I LOVE THIS DELICIOUS MOMENT!”

Running allows me to access this state of mind, especially when I am running hard. If you are familiar with running or any physical activity you will know that more often than not, your mind determines the outcome of your success or failure. Your mind will always give up before your body does. It is your job to train your mind to push the body where it has never gone before. And it is your attitude that will drive your mind to push the body. If you start a training session all sulky, thinking about how long this chore is going to take, then you are more than likely going to have a terrible session. You have walked in with a negative mind set, and have set yourself up for failure because you are more likely to quit when it starts getting hard. However, if you walk into your session excited to hit a new personal best, you are more likely going to have a great session because  when it starts getting hard, you will push yourself out of your comfort zone. And what lies beyond your comfort zone? LIFE!

Now this can apply to anything that you do. Think about your job. If it’s Monday and you have Friday on your mind, there is a good chance that you are going to have a less than stellar week. You are going to come to work, be negative,  and do a worse job than you otherwise would. Then you will  sulk at the end of the day because you have four more days of sulking before you can self medicate yourself with something that will help you forget your previous week of sulking, so you can proceed to the next week (which you hope won’t consist of more sulking). Rinse repeat. However, let’s say you walk into work with a mindset that you are going to smash through today’s workload in record time, so you can enjoy the coming weekend knowing that you earned that sweet, sweet time off. Chances are you might feel a little better about the week, and more importantly, with yourself.

Running is the soil for which my positive attitude seed can sprout and flourish. When I can feel my heart beating out of my chest, when I feel my legs are on fire is when I know that alive state of mind is about to kick in (extra alive points for when it starts raining or storming).  I look for that pain and discomfort because I know what is to follow. If I give up because it starts getting hard, or because my legs hurt, or because I can’t breathe then I know I am not truly alive because I am not pushing myself. If I know I am not pushing myself then I am not being the strongest version of myself. I need to push myself because that is the attitude I need to feel alive. I need that attitude to carry over in all aspects of my life in order to be the strongest me. If I do not push myself right now, I will not push myself later in other life tasks. There is no better time than right now, when I’m in pain and thoughts of stopping kick in. In order to live you must move and keep moving.  But in order to be alive, you must move, and move in a forwards direction. If you are not moving, you are not alive, and if you are not alive then what are you?

So what makes you feel alive? You should do it right now!

“I’M ALIVE!”

– Sash

You know that thing you think you want? You don’t need it!

“The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed” –  Mahatama Ghandi

Read that piece of wisdom by Ghandi again and let it sink into the confines of your cortex. Really think about it. Now look around you. If you are sitting in the comfort of your abode glance around the room. 180 degree head spin that neck. If you’re outside in the park, focus your eye balls on people walking by. Notice the things they wear and carry with them. If you’re chucking a dump in a public toilet………..ok you get the drift. Just look around the damn place and do some observing.

What do you see? If you’re the house dweller, do you see that decoration? Do you see that lovely silver framed picture on the wall? Do you see that jewellery or bling (whatever kids are calling it these days) on your dresser? If you’re in the park, do you see what people are wearing? Do you see the mp3 players, the iPods, the laptops, the suits, the Nike Frees, the time pieces, the fashion? If you’re on the toilet………no need to look around and especially not down. You know what’s there. You created it you wonderful artist you.

You see all that stuff? You don’t need it. I mean, you don’t REALLY need it. In fact, it probably causes you more trouble than what you paid for it.

Let’s go back to Ghandi, that wise and sexy man. The world has enough for everyone’s need. So what are everyone’s needs? I would say we strip down to the bare minimum basics that would allow us to survive. So what does that leave us with? If you are thinking about your car, your jewellery or your iPhone, you my friend have a long way to go. In fact, get over here so I can give you a paddling, with this paddle, that I don’t even need.

Sex and wisdom personified. What a man!

 I myself would say the three things that we, as humans, NEED to survive are food (including water), shelter, and clothing. That’s it. That is all we need to survive.

Let’s go over these things in case they are not convincing enough.

1) Food (and water): Really? I need to explain this one? Oh, and pro tip for anyone who is has the choice between choosing food or water to survive a drought, or a deserted island, choose the water. You’ll live longer.

2) Shelter: This one too is obvious however may need further clarification. We need shelter to protect ourselves from predators, mother nature and the elements, consumerism, One Direction (jokes, but seriously I dig one of their songs at the moment. But if you tell anyone, I will have to maim you) etc. Without this protection, we perish.

3) Clothing: Clothing is necessary, also for protection from the elements, and keeping warm when need be. And when I talk clothing, I’m not talking about your designer label handbag and other over the top crap (YEAH I SAID IT) that serves no other purpose than to hold other crap you don’t need.

As far as I’m concerned if you have anything that does not fall into these three categories, you do not need them to survive. Anything else is just pure luxury, that probably only serves the purpose of entertaining you as you waddle through the week, thinking about how you will be spending your most precious commodity (which is time, not money. If you thought money, get over here. My paddle is getting cold) on more stuff you don’t need.

Ok, I grant you that this line of thinking might be outdated, and we live in a world and society too advanced to just need these three things. Sure those three things still apply, but depending on where you live I would say there are certain things that you probably need to survive in your environment. Off the top of my head I would say perhaps a phone, purely for communication purposes. Not a bloody smartphone that has the internet, and games, and applications that tell you what your star sign is, or when it’s time for you to go to the bathroom, or if that guy/girl likes you, or your estimated date that you will die on and all that other bullshit. Just a phone that allows you to talk with another person. That’s it. That is probably the only thing that I could add to the list, although you don’t REALLY need it. I’m sure Ghandi, in all he’s enlightened and meditative thinking doesn’t consider the phone as a NEED and I will now need to prepare for the onslaught of paddling that is to follow. Be gentle sweet Ghandi.

Your punishment? The paddling of the swollen ass. With paddles!

Now I’m guilty myself of owning things that I don’t need to just survive, for example this computer I’m on, and this keyboard I am using to rant about this subject, and this printer, and this desk, and this calendar. This is all luxury stuff. This is all for entertainment, although the purpose of this piece of writing is to open some eyes and invite you to think about these sorts of things in a different light.

We live in such a consumerist society that is advertising all this crap we don’t need as a necessity of life. Do you really need those designer jeans with the cuts and bleach marks and the designers name printed on your ass? Do you really need that luxury car with bluetooth, and DVD player, and TV screens popping out the back off the seats, and a rear parking video camera? JUST TURN YOUR DAMN HEAD AROUND YOU LAZY GIT! Do you really need that piece of jewellery to make yourself feel beautiful? You already are. Wearing a piece of overpriced sparkle isn’t going to make you comfortable in your own skin. Self confidence will. No piece of an element from the earth is going to.

This car is oozing so much luxury it f*cking flies!

Ok, I grant you that this line of thinking might be outdated, and we live in a world and society too advanced to just survive on the basics. But I invite you to think about what and where you are spending your money (but more importantly, your time to earn that money) on. Instead of that luxury car, down grade. Do you really need four bedrooms? Do you really need five hundred thousand carat diamonds? Do you really need that smartphone? Do you really need that watch that could pay for a person’s education, or better yet, help someone who is struggling to even get the three basics?

So the next time you want to buy something, or think that you need to, really ask yourself this:

“Do I REALLY need that?”

I think you may be surprised.

– Sash