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Don't get me wrong!

Hi y'all,

Perspective is a weird thing and somehow it is intertwinted with time. When time passes and you get some distance from your latest race, how you felt doing it and what it was like to cross that finish line, you'll find that it is the same distance that makes everything look small. You'll find it easier to talk about it without the overwhelming surge of emotions that rushes over you the first about 48 hours after a very long run. And right about that time you will notice that friends and family members are inspired and feel like they want to achieve something huge like that for themselves.

With that inspiration comes some true responsibility. I am all about getting people up and out there on their new running shoes and I abslolutely love talking about running and why I believe everybody should run and why everybody is able to do so provided they have no serious health issues that would surface when they put 4 times their bodyweight on their knees and ankles with each stride. Achieving what I did October 16th was literally: 'what you put into it is what you get out of it' (leaving out 'life' this is a quote by Clint Eastwood)

When you look at that idea you can see that it appears to be based on the law of attraction and just recently I found myself in a conversation where my conversational partner linked Clint's quote to the New Thought philosophy movement. I tried to explain what I meant but coulnd't get my message across. Somehow the only thing that got stuck was the -wish-upon-a-star-and-you'll-get-it' idea that lived in the mind of my conversational partner. Now before anyone is wondering: it wasn't somebody I actually know, I was talking to a stranger when I just finished my run. That happens sometimes. It does. Go out there and run and you'll see.

Since I wans't able to explain myself properly I would like a moment to tell y'all that I dispute that notion with all that is me. The idea  that you get what you want if you truely believe you can do it is absolutely false and it is flawed to the core.  Now to all of you that have been following me over the years, you know that I have always said that life doesn't come with any guarantees. You can work your ass off, you can try your hardest, you can wish the universe to pieces and still not make the grade. My idea of 'what you put into it is what you get out of it' isn't a New Thought philosophy thought. I say this because I know that, no matter what, you will have to work your freaking ass off, be guttedly honest with yourself and know that: 'there is no try, there is only do' (Joda)  And yes you can still not realize what you set out to do. Guess what? Running is life. You will never have any guarantee, non whatsoever and you can not return your broken parts to the universe and ask for new ones.

After that talk I found myself furious, raging even, and you know why? Because  that same 'Law of attraction' tells you that when you get sick and die from it, this is your own fault. You have thought negative thoughts and therefore you got cancer, ALS or something else that made you this sick. Worse even; this New Thought philosophy [once started by Phineas Quimby (1802-1866) and popularized in 2006 by the release of the film The Secret and the huge popularization of the book (Rhonda Byrne) through popular media figures such as Ellen Degeneres and Oprah Winfrey] actually tells you that if you want to get better hard enough, if you ask the universe for it hard enough that you will get better. Please take a moment to let this one sink in properly: if you get a disease with a 100% fatality rate you have asked for it so now all you need to do is ask the universe to be cured and you will. 

Why did this talk make so angry? Well let me ask you something: have you ever seen somebody die from a horrible disease? No? Well, as y'all know, I am currently witnessing my mother die from ALS and if you truely believe in the New Thought philosophy thing than you are telling me that I somehow materialized this, or my mom did or one of my sibblings or even my dad did. And that is a horrible, vile, low and absolutely disgusting thing to say and it's abviously NOT true. If you believe in the New Thought philosophy you are telling me that my mother isn't working hard enough to get better, that she doens't want to live.What you are telling me is that we (me, my mom, my sibblings and my dad) deserve to go through this because we asked for it. That is just too awful to actually phatom. I can't understand why you would voice these thoughts and worse even: actually believe them.

So random stranger, if you did follow up on your promise and are currently reading my blog, this one is for you: maybe you have never thought this one through and maybe you feel a little shitty right now. You never knew I have a terminally ill mother, you never knew I have seen too many people get sick and die and why would you? This isn't something you tell somebody the first time you meet. I truely hope you will take some time to stop and think about what you said to me, what you are telling yourself and maybe, just maybe you could acknowledge that my definition of the stolen Clint Eastwood quote has nothing to do with your life's philosophy.

When I tell new runners that you get out of it what you put into it, I mean to tell them that actions speak so much louder than words ever could. I mean to tell them that simply wishing for what you want will not get you to the finish line. I tell new runners that even if they work their freaking butts off and give it their all that they might not get what they want. I tell new runners that if they want to become millionaires that they should never buy lottery tickets because all they are buying is a dream. If you want to run any distance you will need to do more than just ask the universe. You need to put your words and thoughts in to tangible actions and maybe, just maybe, that will help you in actually achieving your goals. So you see random stranger my stolen quote actually means the opposite of what you're selling and if you don't mind I will get my butt out of the door now so I can materialize my next marathon by actually training for it.



That's it for now, until we read again.
As always, love Marlies.


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