Ice Picks in my Ears

I used to hear them say "it's all mental" and "mind over matter." Then when I would try certain kinds of activity I would think, "the pain in various parts of my body attacking me at the exact same time WOULD DISAGREE, SIR!"

But I get it now.

We are consciousness driving around in these human vehicles. Every once in a while a gasket pops or it overheats or the engine works too hard. Not every one of us but a lot more of us than we realize are driving reliable Hondas and they're going to be fine for at least 800,000 miles as long as we do all the oil changes in a timely manner.

Today, I was running uphill in the cold rain on Hill Street by Sunset Cliffs and it suddenly felt like someone started jamming ice picks in to the meaty area under my ears. I've learned overtime that my body is extremely sensitive to air pressure and the temperature (which I recently discovered is due to Raynaud's Disease). I went back to the car, found more covering for my head & ears, put on gloves and ran the less elevated Sunset Cliffs Blvd corridor instead. The most common mistake in thinking that I've observed of my fellow humans is the thought that if we can't do something 120% then we shouldn't even try. It's like getting a paper cut and shouting, "screw it - might as will chop off the arm!" This even applies to political involvement - the silly thought that if we can't be career politicians then it means we shouldn't even attempt to get involved. This is in the political rant; it's an observation of a pattern of thinking. I understand now how the mental fortitude of athleticism translates to success in other areas of one's life. See Arnold Schwarzenegger for exhibit A.

Everything is connected. Reality is an illusion. Right now I am learning how to DJ and I am doing it by connecting it to the things I've already learned about photography. When picking up a new thing I've found that it works best not think of it as a new thing but a new angle of something I already know. Music and photography, for example, are both about manipulating waves - one happens to be light and the other is sound.

For me, physical activity has always been another form of meditation. I don't doubt that envisioning the finish line is a powerful tool. But what I find works for me is focusing on the moment that I'm in rather than my destination. And that helps me in physical activity because that's the way I see life in general. It is a natural instinct to try not to think of the discomfort - to try to leave the body and go to a happy place. Meditative practice teaches us that we can feel less pain when we dive right into the discomfort. To experience the full catastrophe.

It always comes back to this: I have yet to face a challenge the solution to which has not been awareness.

The human body is a amazing durable machine. Push it harder. We are not all created equal. Some of us don't have the knee and ankle and scoliosis problems my body does. Some of us have much greater challenges. And that's completely OK. The race truly is only with yourself.