Going Beyond Imagined Limits

Listen to the podcast of this here.

I thought I�??d have a go at the Sussex Beacon half marathon in Brighton next weekend.

Some good reasons not to do it:

1. It�??s on a Sunday morning in February

2. Thirteen miles is quite a long way

3. You don�??t get paid or receive a big prize for your efforts.

So why bother?

Well, I�??ve done it before and it really great experience. The last time, two years ago, I�??d never run anywhere near that far before. For the first mile or two I was a mess �?? I was tired and could feel a stitch coming on. In fact, as we ran close to my house, I was tempted to just jog straight back home. But with a bit of persistence, I got into my stride and then at around the half way point I realised I had already run further than I ever had before and every single step was a new achievement.

The thrill of this drove me up the hill onto the cliffs overlooking the sea and it was there that something really special happened. It might have been the view out over the sea, the bright, clear sun or the sight of the finish line off in the distance but something changed and I realised that I really could finish.

More than that, though, the �??I�?? that was going to finish wasn�??t a separate struggling entity but was somehow at ease and flowing with everything that was happening. Yes, there was still some determination involved but I didn�??t feel like I wanted to stop either, it just felt right for my legs to be carrying me forwards.

For those minutes, time and tiredness didn�??t seem to exist. Joseph Campbell pointed out that timelessness isn�??t a very long time. It�??s right there in each living minute. Running over the cliffs that day was an experience of it. It wasn�??t exactly �??fun�?? in the normal sense but it wasn�??t not fun either. It didn�??t work in that way. It was something more like �??beautiful.�??

Physical exertion is often used to induce transcendent states. Think of Native American endurance rituals or ecstatic dancing. My experience was perhaps a small, secular reflection of that, a reminder that there�??s more to pleasure than comfort and indulgence.

Of course, it doesn�??t just apply to running. It applies to any activity that takes you beyond what you believe about yourself. These things might be not always be exactly �??fun�??; they can be much more than that.

I�??m sure you�??ve had similar experiences yourself. You could perhaps just remember what some of them were. You can�??t make these things happen, of course, but you can create the conditions that make them more likely by taking on challenges that might seem beyond you.

Maybe they�??re worth seeking out again. Let me know how you get on. Good luck!

Music on the podast from deliciously dark The Desperate Ones (Hear more on The Desperate Ones’ myspace page.)