500 Words a Week - Make It Enjoyable
I recently started running after a 10 year hiatus as a means to mix up my current training. I began by rummaging through my wardrobe and finding an old pair of running shoes, and going for light 20 minute jogs.
At Christmas, I got a new pair of running shoes. The moment I opened them I felt excited to run. To try them out, to see how they felt compared to the worn out shoes I had been running in. I had planned a 12km run, my biggest since easing myself back into running. The run was the most enjoyable one since beginning again. I loved how the shoes felt, the lack of weird uncomfortable pains around my ankles and shin. It was an enjoyable experience, as I bounced along the pavement, one step at a time.
It made me reflect about how in many of our endeavours we feel that we must struggle through them. That reaching the end or a goal, is only worthwhile if we go through rungs of pain and discomfort. We’ve glorified struggle and suffering to the point that we miss the joy of the process or journey. If we achieve a goal, and didn’t suffer in the process, we feel we didn’t deserve it.
It raises the question of how can we have fun as we pursue our endeavours? As we pursue our own path through life? What would happen if we didn’t view life as a struggle we must maneuver our way through, and looked to enjoy the everyday moments that come our way?
In our pursuit of a new endeavour, can we think of ways to make it more fun or enjoyable? If we are trying to read more, rather than rushing to the types of books everyone says you must read, why not simply pick up a book you know you will enjoy? If you are trying to journal more, why not buy a special pen and notebook solely for your journaling, that makes you enjoy the process of writing? If you have some dreary life admin to get through, maybe you decide to tackle it from your favourite coffee shop? With our work, what if we approached it from a place of curiosity rather than obligation?
Throughout the natural course of life, there will be suffering and challenges to work our way through. We don’t need to further add to these by insisting we must suffer through all our endeavours, and do everything with the utmost seriousness. How can we bring some lightness back to our world? How can we shift our attention from always thinking about the end goal or destination, to focusing upon doing things for the pure sake of enjoyment? I find this is linked with exercise, people force themselves to do all manners of different exercise modalities that they dislike. As they dislike it, they are less inclined to keep it up.
How can we make our pursuits more enjoyable?
