Comfort Kills

From this bridge I can see clearly where it is and isn't snowing. I can see that it is not snowing where we live at the moment, but a couple of kilometers further west in Nishinomiya, it is snowing.

We had some snow this morning and I hoped that when I went for my twenty-two kilometers run this afternoon that I would be running in the snow. Unfortunately, I ran pretty much the whole distance under a blue sky. Light snow only found me as I neared home.

Perhaps in contradiction to my love of efficiency which I asserted yesterday, today I shall champion struggle and discomfort. As I said, I wanted it to snow during my rain. I wanted it to be very cold, because I prefer the hard, challenging run to the smooth, easy run. It is invigorating and makes me feel more alive. I agree totally with what my hero, Dean Karnazes, has to say on this subject.

Dean Karnazes' Philosophy

"The modern rationale equates comfort and convenience and an absence of pain and struggle with happiness. We go from our air-conditioned cars to the elevators of our climate controlled buildings and then to our comfortable office chairs. We've grown so comfortable, we're miserable.Struggling and suffering are the essence of a life worth living. If you're not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you're not demanding more from yourself, expanding and learning as you go, you're choosing a numb existence. You're denying yourself an extraordinary trip."  (Dean Karnazes)

The Path Of Least Resistance