There, I have survived another year and I have done 63 laps around the sun and during that time I have learned a few things about running and life.

Philosophy, political science and reading the classics should be a required courses in high school and college. Not the silly philosophy shit that continually asks the meaning of life, but the practical thinking skills, like what is right and what is wrong, what is honor, rhetoric, loyalty, logic, etc. That teaching students how to think and question, not just spew answers that they can get from a search engine.

Life is full of unknowns and has been since before civilization began – everything is repeated at some point and time, although it is all about us now. We cannot change what happened yesterday, only learn from it, we do not know what the future will hold, we can only plan for it and be adaptable to the circumstances that actually happen in the present. Do the hard work, but remember to have fun too, life is too short not to enjoy it.

You are responsible for your actions – good and bad. Look in the mirror if your life sucks, then think of what needs to be done or changed to make it better and do something about it. Sometimes it means that you have start over and yes, that is scary, but it can also be necessary and it doesn’t matter how old you are.

What you do and how you treat others is important, in other times it was called character. So do what you can, but do it for the right reasons.

Without good health life sucks. The thing is most of us have more control over our health than we realize or want to acknowledge. What we put down the pie hole and into our bodies matters most over the long haul. How much we move each day is within our control. Again do what you can and take responsibility for your own health.

Control what you can, let the stuff you cannot control go. There is so much that we have zero control over, yet we worry ourselves to death with trying act or think that we do have some control over things we do not.

We do not need as much as we think we do. Often living more simply is giving ourselves the freedom and yes, the time to do more with our lives that is important to us.

Read. Read more. Read source documents or materials. Read to challenge yourself. Read to laugh, cry and take you to places that you will never go. Read outside of your echo chamber. Read to pique or satisfy your curiosity. Read to learn – no matter how old or young you are. Read philosophy, history, fiction, fantasy, sports, biographies or whatever genre you enjoy, but do not get locked into one and only read that, it is so limiting. Read books, read articles, read blogs, read a wide variety. Just read more.

Finally, laugh at ourselves and with others more. Taking life so seriously that you forgot how to laugh is not living a good life.

Think about your life and the things you can do to make it better.

Oh yeah, buy the running shoes and run as much as you can! It does make a difference in your life and the running shoes, well they just become an addiction where you keep looking for the perfect running shoes for you. 🙂

Enjoy life and remember you are what you do, so do what you can.