This is Why I Run

6. Risk

Do you ever look at yourself in the mirror, and wonder what you're doing? I do. I look at myself in the mirror and I have all sorts of thoughts:

• I can't believe that more than two years have passed since we moved to Fresno, and more than three have since we moved from England.
• Where do I want to be in three months? In six? In a year? In two?
• One thing's for sure, I don't want to be 30 and childless.
• I want to run marathons - not just one, but many.
• I want to write a book that's good enough it doesn't end up on the "has been" shelf of the library.
• I want to laugh more, sleep more, and still work enough that I don't go stir crazy.
• I want to be paid more than I am for what I do.
• I want to have a Ph.D. so I could work in non-private schools doing what I do, which I love.
• I want to have muscles that look like, and work like, Tatyana Pushkareva's - that woman is a machine.
• I want to bake more, and eat healthier.
• I want to love hiking.

Erica Jong said, "If you don’t risk anything, you risk more." Running is a risk for me, and I love it. I want to actively seek, and find, peak experiences in my life: experiences that define who I am, and fill me with satisfaction and joy.