Read For Wellbeing

I recently read “Born To Run” by Christopher McDougall. It was marvellous. The book itself, proved gripping, inspiring & eye-opening in equal part. But what fascinated me the most, was learning that reading can be so enjoyable. It has changed how I look at books. I’ve been talking about this book since I was just a few pages in. That’s strange for me. I’ve never read for enjoyment before. In fact this was the first non-academic book I have read since I left school. I have read hundreds of books between then & graduating with my Master degree, but this was different & I loved every word of it.

 

I have a lot to thank this book for. It gripped me in such a way that I can’t wait to pick up my next adventure [Scott Jurek Eat & Run, Christopher McDougall & Reasons To Stay Alive, Matt Haig are waiting for me]. It’s the first time I have been enthralled by a book start to finish & it felt pretty amazing. It was nice to reflect on things, zone out, escape from the pressures of life & confide in a book each day, whether a few minutes or a few hours. Whatever my day permitted really.

But, in reflection I learned a more valuable lesson. I learned that the very essence of losing yourself & escaping, no matter how, was so important to us. To our health, our mind frame, our perspective of life. But ultimately to our happiness. I found comparables between reading the book, running, snowboarding, the gym & my favourite music. It was obvious. For the first time, I realised that all we need is some time to escape & take ourselves to an entirely new subconscious place. Where we can forget all our troubles, focus on the positivity in our lives, open our heart to new possibilities & feel good about things. When we return, much like coming back from a holiday, we bring all that positive energy back with us, with a powerful can-do attitude. Maybe this is why we put so much enthusiasm into & get so much enjoyment out of, our passions & hobbies. It wasn’t necessarily the pursuit itself, but a way to enjoy ourselves & come back feeling happier, fitter, wiser & stronger. Having the things you love in your life, coupled with trying new things, learning, adventuring, escaping & experiencing new things at any opportunity, makes you a happier person. But sometimes you can get that just as easily from music, films & books as learning a language, travelling, snowboarding, running or cycling.

Reading has become one of my favourite escapes now. It’ll always be there for me, to brighten up any day. I always have enough time to escape for a few pages & that’s the beauty of it. Combine it with a good coffee & a slice of cake for some self indulgence. If you live anywhere near London, get yourself to Foyle’s Charing Cross for the day. Its the largest book store in the UK; guaranteed to have something for everyone. They sell great coffee & even better cake too, on the top floor. While there, I also read Time Out London’s guide to top Coffee Shops. I’ve learned some great places to relax & read on a wet day & let’s face it, they come all too often. I’ll post the best coffee shops to visit soon for anyone interested.

So, imagine if, just from the passions & hobbies we hold dear, we could live longer. Well, research shows happier people, on average, will live 10 years longer. Now, for me, snowboarding isn’t something I can do regularly, given a full time job & lack of accessible mountain slopes. Even running can takes its toll on me sometimes; I have to step back to enjoy it again. But reading a book? Well that was simple. I could do that anytime & from now on I will. I guess it’s just a matter of finding the type of book that can enthral you for hours. I got lucky with my first purchase. As a keen, still relatively new, distance & ultra-runner “Born To Run” by Christopher McDougall came highly recommended. I tried it & it did not disappoint. But it was about more than just running. It was life-affirming stories of civilisation, an eye-opening glimpse into the problems of modern society & global culture, which accompanied the running motivation, which really captured me & left me feeling like anything was possible.

 

I love feeling like I’ve just woken up, all foggy-eyed with intention, motivation & inspiration. Where had I been hiding? How did I not see it before? We’ve evolved far beyond the capability of anything else we share this world with. So why is it we question, every day, whether we are capable of achieving something remarkable? Why is it we ask why we something might not work, before we ask what if? Yes. We can. It’s in our nature. It’s in our DNA. It’s how we survived. You’ve just got to find a way.

If you’re interested in this book, read the review; “Born To Run – Christopher McDougall”

What’ll your next book be?

Happy reading.