MOTIVATE YOUR RUNNING:  "Discover Child's Play".                       
An Article by Steve Baker

You want to run and stay motivated: child’s play! What can you possibly learn from watching young children play that will help to motivate your running? You will be surprised! Take a break from your world of supervised activity where play may have been replaced by calisthenics, joy by drudgery, or fun by boredom. Put your adult sophistication and cynicism aside and enter the world of play. Change the rules. Set your own goals. Turn anything into play and you’ll better the odds for success. Consider fitness programs. What distinguishes those who stay from those who drop out? Those who stay have learned how to play. Fitness has once again become fun. When children play they become airplanes, animals, ninjas or super heroes. Enter this land of fantasy where anything can and does happen: Not to mention the health benefits that have been documented since the Greek era.

Allow yourself to make time  to run and play like a child. Let your mind, once again, create magic. The rewards will benefit not only you, but also those around you. Burn off some energy, frustration and calories.  Go play.  Escape the scorn of the “bully”, often within, who whispers: “None of your family or friends runs.” “Look at you.” “You’ve had two kids.” “You haven’t got time.” Running, like children’s play, is a state of mind. If you can train your mind everything else will fall into place. To a large degree our lives are shaped by our perception of ourselves. Think for a few seconds ... are you always positive? ... Is there room for improvement? ... Are you often too critical of yourself? If this is the case can you correct it? Sure you can. Even before you leave home use your imagination as a child might. Become a “giant”, a “gazelle”, a “lioness”, a “runner” or whatever you wish to become.  You are and you become what you think of most. Or as Wayne W. Dyer puts it: “Remember, you get what you really want, and you get what you really don’t want. The choice is yours.”

It is so important, as you step out the door to give yourself a congratulatory “pat on the back”.  You’ve achieved your first short term goal.  You are going out to play. You are not intimidated by those big kids or what they will say, or may think. Don’t strive for perfection too early at the expense of fun filled with magic. Some running clinics and programs are full of rules that must be followed to achieve success. Don’t get me wrong, there are some truths to improve running and racing, without which progress is haphazard. However, don’t let  too many of these guidelines become shackles. They could become dead ends rather than open doors: paths blindly followed that lead us to burnout and ultimately cause us to drop out.

Focus on the here and now. Play is the only event on the agenda. Put on hold any thoughts of work, relationships, or chores and assure yourself that you will deal with them later. Your conscious mind can only hold one thought at a time. Use this to your advantage. Feel your body move and visualize the power and elegance of your stride. Your back straightens and your chest swells as you inhale confidence, smoothness and dignity. Once again you are the child who stood on top of the hill and uttered to imaginary or real playmates “I have the power!” Take control. Reacquaint yourself with that little soul mate. “Seize the power!” Re-discover the way of the child: a life of wonder, trust,  love, and fitness.

In the big world, away from the security of your home, take it easy. There is no rush. Steadily head towards your favorite “playground”. Listen to your body. Feel it respond. This is just the beginning. You’re playing “let’s pretend” and its working! The stopwatch is not running! All you have to know is that you want to be back by “ten past six”.  Enter this separate reality. Shout! A crow responds. A swooping seagull joins you for a couple of seconds. A squirrel climbs a tree. Acknowledge their presence. A child, sitting in the grass, picking dandelions shares a “heart to heart” with a stray dog.  She sees you, and asks if you are training for the Olympics? You laugh out loud and say, “you bet!”

With that extra incentive you pick up the pace a little. This time you have the sensation of moving over the ground, not into it. You’re performing aerobically, able to talk, but not quite able to sing. That’s the pace. There’s a shallow puddle.  Can you run over it without splashing? “Whoops, that will
need practice.” There are some cracks in the sidewalk. Don’t tread on them, or you’ll break your mother’s back. How long have you been out here, running, skipping, and hopping backwards and forwards?  Has it been 10 seconds or 2 minutes? It doesn’t matter. Who’s timing? In the here and now time stands still. Run, walk, whistle, and enjoy.  You aim to run and walk as smoothly as the birds fly, as perfectly as the flowers blossom, and as agile as the squirrels climb. Children learn from their curiosity about the environment. We are all part of this integral system. Don’t try to reinvent the universe.

Still looking to the child within and without, swing on a branch, jump over a rock, run up some steps. That was fun.  Do it again. Children learn and improve from repetition. Set no limits. Let no off-hand comments from within or without interrupt your fantasy. Scorn or praise only affects you if you let it. Find ‘non-toxic’ playmates to support your developing fantasy! Focus on the body, and what it can do. It will guide you.

As you make your way homeward you have lots of energy remaining. Indeed, you wish you could have “played” some more. Your mind feels rested and your body relaxed. Like a growing child, you too are becoming stronger, faster and fit. Playing is fun! You can’t wait to do it again tomorrow. Motivation ... who  needs it to play! Motivation ... becomes stronger each time we play

Inhale ... strength, grace and joy. Exhale ... mental and bodily aches and pain. The world’s positive energy is there for us to discover, and tap into. There is plenty to go around. On the contrary, the more it’s used ... the greater the source!
What a concept.  Test it.