Find your passion

I knew a girl named Emily in high school. Emily was better at math, science, and a slew of other academic subjects than me but what bothered me the most was that she so effortlessly ran the two-mile race in gym class. While I struggled with it, she breezed through it. Right then and there a seed was planted.

I ran with my uncle. I ran the the Back Cove boulevard. And over time, what  was hard became easy and light. I've run two half marathons now. It centers me, making me physically stronger, taking away my back pain, oxygenated my lungs so I can breathe, and my brain so I can think. Its gotten my through losing friends, feeling stuck in places like small-town Maine, unseen in places like D.C., and through difficult break-ups.

I'm not the best runner, I'm not even particularly fast, but I am runner and I love it. For my brother, it's dancing. For another friend, it's yoga. It's the thing that helps a person be her/his best self. It's the thing that a person can do for herself. In a way, it's self help and self care. It's independence.

I think about all the things I'm plotting to do and all  the places I'm plotting to go when I run and it excites me. I'm sane because of it and glad that I found it. If I could give advice to people who are bored or sad or think that another person can swoop in and save the day, I would say that they need to find their passion that allows them to be their best self first. Being a positive best self is the first key element to building positive relationships anyways. Without knowing how to oneself happy, one can't expect that from another.

Here are some songs from the running playlist:

                           Common: Universal Mind Control

Britney Spears: Womanizer