Life is short

How do you make the most of one life? This is a question I’ve returned to, as I’m sure many others have, in their lives. How do you make sure that when you’re eighty years old, you can look back and say you didn’t waste a second? At least that’s the goal right? To just want to live it all over again, the same way, with the same people. For me it comes down to chasing the things that make me feel alive: being healthy, being fit, seeking adventure, taking risks, being with others I love. Basically, I just want to keep feeling the highs that are generated naturally. To feel it all. But the truth is, or so I've found, feeling it all comes with a cost. Sometimes it means you feel weak. Sometimes sick, lost, broken down, unsure. Sometimes it means doubt and failure. Sometimes it means loneliness. And recently, I've felt all of that too. A lot. That's why I keep coming back to ultra running as a metaphor to life. It's not just about running. It's feeling everything we possibly can in this life: the highs, the lows, the breakthroughs, the breakdowns, insecurity, confidence. You run long enough and you start to realize: joy is never far from pain. Somehow, you always make it out of the pain you felt and it transforms into a feeling of accomplishment. Triumph is always tied to struggle. If you want one, you have to be willing to accept the other with patience and it's hard in the moment to consistently be okay with feeling discomfort. There is a direct reflection running has on life. This is probably the case for any other physical endeavor but I've just chosen running. And maybe that's the point. We're only here for a short time, and the measure of it isn't how easy it was, it's how much we allowed ourselves to feel. To lean into the full spectrum: pain, joy, loss, love, risk, reward. Ultra running reminds me that the goal isn't to avoid the lows or chase only the highs, but to experience all of it without holding back. Because when the miles and years add up, I don't want to say "I wish I would have." I want to say I felt it all. The funny thing is also that ultra doesn't take that much mental or physical strength. It just takes time and persistence.