The hardest run in baseball is between third base and home base, and like baseball, this is true in life. Going the distance and staying focused can be done and must be done if we are going to make it to home base. Two very BIG truths must be captured and made a part of our lives if we are going to go the distance and stay focused.
The first BIG truth is to avoid isolation. We must learn to do life together. Americans are facing an epidemic of isolation. 25% of all Americans have zero friends; the average American has two. One out of four of us lives alone. We are in a relational depletion. Social media has made us more connected and yet more disconnected.
Relationships have a significant impact on our health. People that are socially connected live longer. They respond better to stress, have stronger immune systems, and do better in fighting illnesses. Positive social relationships are second only to genetics in predicting health and longevity. Health and happiness, the two things we say matter most can be linked to social connectedness. Enthusiasm is a hard emotion to sustain if it can’t be shared. We can’t go the distance and stay focused on ourselves. Others create a lens that allows us to see things better. The more isolated we become, the more we become set in our ways and lose the ability to adapt. A circle of good friends is like a hammock that holds us safely above the hard ground of depression, loneliness, and introspection. To keep going the distance and staying focused, we need good friends in our life.
The second BIG truth is similar to the first in this, they both share the same word, isolation, isolation from an adventure. In 1992 Nike invented the first athletic shoe. Injuries went up 123%. Why? It was because they encased our feet and supported our arch. Your arch is the greatest weight-bearing design ever created. When the arch is overly supported, it produces 40% to 60% atrophy. Your feet are amazing; they contain 25% of the bones in your body. The human foot has 26 bones, 33 joints, 12 tendons and 18 muscles. But here lies the big truth, your feet, like your life, loves adventure. When they live encased in an overly protected environment, they go to sleep. For us to keep going the distance and continue staying focused, we must break out of the isolation of loneliness and the isolation of predictability and live with adventure.
You can preview the first part of the series “Born to Run” and begin your journey today.
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