The pursuit of joy
Letting go of grownup concerns and running like a child
We were coming around the corner, my son and I, when he turned to me with a twinkle in his eye. “Dad,” he said. “Just so you know, I’m going to drop the hammer.”
Without waiting for a response, he turned on the jets and sprinted away like the Roadrunner – meep, meep – laughing and kicking up dirt in his wake. We were finishing up a father/son 5K and he couldn’t wait to leave the old man in the dust.
If you ever want to witness pure joy, watch a 9-year-old run. They don’t care about mile splits or form cues. They just want to move as fast as they can and feel the wind in their face while the world churns under their feet.
We are older and wiser, of course. We know that we can no longer run with reckless abandon. Or, at least, not for very often, and certianly not for very long. At our age, we must pace ourselves and conserve our energy if we’re going to make it to the finish.
Through years of trial and error, many of us have learned that we must pay attention to a whole host of factors that sound like gibberish to a child. Things like pace and heart rate that can be processed and examined in real time, all the time, so that we can become some version of our optimized selves.
While we are capable of measuring nearly everything during our runs, we don’t always account for simply having fun. Between the grunts, sweat, and yes, occasional pain of running, there must also be room for experiencing spontaneous moments of joy.
While my son raced further and further ahead, I realized that running has the power to recharge our youthful spirit. It allows us to let go of our grownup mindset and embrace opportunity as a child might, running as fast as their legs can carry them.