The night sky

The first day of Spring, according to some. It certainly feels like Spring right now, although it didn't at 6.30 this morning.

My legs are surprisingly sore this morning after a seven and a half mile run yesterday. After all my half marathon training, I didn't expect to feel it in my legs this morning.

On yesterday morning's long(ish) run I was thinking that I am surrounded by possibilities in my life all the time, whether that's from ideas that pop up whilst running, from possible interactions with others, from hearing something, reading something, seeing something or feeling something.

I miss most of these possibilities either from being too busy thinking, worrying or agonising over something else that's wirring around in my head or because my mind is not tuned to receive possibilities.

Sometimes when I'm hoping for something positive to happen I already have a preconception of exactly what I want it to look like, and I don't notice when it presents itself in a different guise so it passes me by.

The best place to be to notice possibilities is in a place that's called openness and curiosity.

It's a bit like letting the clouds clear on a dark night to notice the amazing stars that litter the night sky. They're always there, it's just that most of the time I can't see them.

Game of 2 halves

Wish I could shake off this cough that has followed on from last week's cold.

I have only been doing the minimum distance apart from a gentle 5K I did with Nicky on Sunday. I think that the October marathon is looking very unlikely right now, and yet the vision of an eventual ultra still remains strong. Who knows exactly what and when, but it doesn't feel like it matters right now.

I did some preparatory work on foot toughening on Monday, walking barefoot on the stony beach - really quite painful.

Today has been like the proverbial football (soccer) match, a game of two halves. I was struggling with a problem that needed to be resolved today and couldn't see a way through this morning. The result - reduced energy, feeling of me on my own against the world, inspiring vision evaporated, only able to see two to three feet in front of me.

By this afternoon, I had taken the problem apart piece by piece and addressed each small chunk individually and dealt with it. Result - energy supercharged, I'm back in alignment with the rest of the world, excited by the endless possibilities (and heard some positive news about a new business opportunity), and I'm now physically looking across the tops of the trees at the vast and amazing sky from my desk.

Talk about the power of the inner game being so much more critical than the external one. I think so!

Happy Birthday Cyd!!

Running is possibility

After my run this morning I was remembering back in 1987 (a couple of careers ago) when I made the jump from a permanent IT role into a freelance one.

I knew then that if I hadn't been doing my lunchtime runs in Regents Park that I most definitely wouldn't have had the courage, the belief, the energy and the vision of possibility to take the leap and the risk.

So if I hadn't run, my life would look very different to how it does now. Running definitely helps me look at the world through the lenses of possibility.

The best day of my life

I heard the story of a football manager (don't know his name) who started each day by saying "today is the best day of my life". Apparently the story was told by this manager's chairman, who went on to say that everyone loved this guy because he was so positive and so uplifting to be around. He was always open to new possibilities and opportunities.

I thought of this story and quote in the shower this morning and decided to take on the intention that today is the best day of my life.

I've run my mile, with Nicky, which was my 70th consecutive day of running and Im just preparing to go up to London to meet a couple of friends, who are ex clients and ex colleagues respectively.

I'm intrigued to know what the day might bring and know that it is completely up to me to be open to it being the best day of my life.