Sunday, February 12, 2012

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running #2

I finished reading the book, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami on the plane to Georgia on Thursday. I went to visit my sister and her family, and I thought I had enough of the book left to read down there and back. Unfortunately, I finished it too soon!

I did have a chance to reflect on one quote over the weekend that I really liked: "No matter how much you might command your body to perform, don't count on it to immediately obey." No kidding! I have done yoga for more than four years, and there are ways that I wish my body would obey, but doesn't. I could, and easily do, look at all my body can't do, rather than look at what it can do. I am definitely way more flexible than I ever thought possible. My arms, back and legs are really firm--my stomach, even after two kids, is firmer than I'd ever expected. So what I need to focus on is how well my body has adapted to yoga.

I did notice that the author was a self depricating person. I'm reading this thinking, "Wow! I can't believe he ran a 60 mile marathon!" And he is looking at what he can't do or how difficult things are for him. But then I thought, I am just as self depricating as he is! So this book made me realize that even the most disciplined of people see themselves as imperfect human beings. It's just a base human trait that I believe keeps us all humble. This book was definitely a worthwhile read.

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