Listening to your heart

AHM is coming and I've not been running further than 10km ever since my marathon last year because all the events that I took part since then were never longer than 10km. But the evening was really beautiful today, and I can't resist not leaving my house. Unlike other people who were attached and were going on a date with their girlfriends, I changed into my running gear and headed for the roads. Call me a loner, I don't care. It was going to be a run of uncertainty because I did not know what distance I would be running and I just recovered from a sprained ankle. Let's just run from woodlands to yishun and back! (I discovered this to be 16km when I plotted out the distance from the street directory when I reached home)

Off I ran, step by step, taking one breath every ten steps and soon I was in a rythmic motion. I could feel my heart pumping. As I ran alongside the sembawang airbase, to my left was the hustle and bustle of the cars and to my right was the serenity of the forest (its serene if you don't think of any ghost) It's an interesting contrast when you were running there. On the left the world zoom pass you but on the right, the world seemed to have stopped. There I was, running and listening to my heart pumping at the same time. I felt alive and at the same time peaceful. It must be the effect of endorphin. Who cares about that injured ankle! For that period of time when I was running, nothing else was on my mind. I was free from the clutches of time and emotions. I just had to move on step by step, enjoying the beautiful sight of the slowly darkening sky. Nothing else matters.

Don't worry so much about past injuries, for the more you worry the more it hinders you from moving forward. Life goes on and injuries are past events. Don't think about how far you have to go to reach your destination because once you label a number to the distance, it will make you cast doubts about your own ability. Enjoy the moments of the journey to your destination. Enjoy the breathing, the aches, the breeze and the timeless feeling of not bringing a watch with you. Listen to your heart. That's living.