One Saturday evening in grade 11 the pressure kept building.
The pressure in my head.
The pressure in my chest.
My entire being became consumed by the need to move. I put on a pair of running shoes and flew out the front door, leaping down the steps and running full tilt down the block.
I don’t recall how far I ran, just that the pressure became unbearable and I had to do something.
I felt that again Thursday last.
It was a lovely warm day, a perfect time to begin the summer fitness season and ramp up my workouts, which is what I tell people is the reason I started running.
It’s bullshit.
The emotional turmoil, reverberating through my system for 24 hours, until I couldn’t take it any more drove me to run.
As the years accumulate, I spend a lot of time on introspection. One of the things I’ve learned is that I can actually feel the cortisol buildup in my system.
Those days when I can’t be still, when I have to do something? It’s just my system telling me I’m ODing on cortisol, and I need to break it down.
One of the gifts of aging is experience, and wisdom is simply letting experience guide you. Listen to your inner voice, and when it tells you to run, run.
So it goes with the mid life pivot. When your inner voice tells you it’s time to make a change, listen to it.
When your inner voice tells you to grab an opportunity, listen to it.
And when your inner voice tells you, avoid at all costs, for God’s sake, listen to it.
