Are you running yourself ragged?

Do you feel like life is an exhausting race that pushes you to keep running? Are you yearning to pause and take a deep breath but never seem able to? Life is rushing by in a blur, a hurried existence punctuated with unexpected twists and turns that wear you out.

Perhaps you are trying too hard to run someone else’s race or keep up with them, losing sight of the fact that you can only run yours. Instead of enjoying life, you end up feeling like a shadow of yourself, blaming ‘life’ for everything.

The best runners never run themselves ragged. They see life more as a long, slow marathon and pace it on their own terms. They pause or apply the brakes when they need to. They take time to commune with themselves and relax. When life throws a curve ball, they don’t flee from the storm. They harness the wind.

“It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

How do you learn to flow with life? Slow down and take a deep breath. Pause and enjoy the scenery instead of running towards some distant goal all the time, blind to the beauty of life as it happens now. Focus on what you can control instead of using up time on things you can’t. Watch how life lightens up when you practice this, whether things are going your way or not.

When things are going well, take the time to enjoy every minute. When a storm blows in, as it does in every life, use the wind to navigate as best as you can and let things be, trusting life to take you to a safe shore and knowing that the sun will shine soon.

“Wherever you are, be there totally.” – Eckhart Tolle

When you consider the big picture, the only person you will ever race with is yourself. And it happens only once. You can either run yourself to exhaustion by trying to keep up with others or pace yourself and enjoy this special, unique experience on your terms as it unfolds now. Take your pick.