As I listened to the intro to The Rich Roll Podcast Episode 115 I was struck by the phrase ‘To struggle, is to be alive’
This podcast features the host Rich Roll and the legendary Dean Karnazes.
Dean Karnazes is an Ultrarunner but if you’re not into running you can still gain a lot by listening to his story. The greatest part of his story, personally, is about is awakening and lust for life. At the age of 30 caught up in the throws of corporate America he decided to take his life back. He started to evaluate his life on a different success scale and asked himself did he like the life he had and was it what he really wanted. Ultimately the answer was no.
He was living a life that he felt is the life story that we are spun and supposed to aspire too i.e. finish school, go to uni, get a job, work 5 days a week for 50 weeks a year til your 65 or 70, then you will have earned the right to live life the way you want to.
But Dean no longer accepted that. I won’t go into detail here on the nitty critty of what that looked like for him, you can read about it in his books.
Dean and Rich’s words resonate so much with me whenever I listen to them speaking. I, like Dean have had that awakening of no longer accepting or feeling to be a part of the common rhetoric I mentioned above. Yes we have to work and make money to live in this World but there are ways to do that are more in line with your values and that allow you to live life on your terms. You can get up when you want, you can structure your day as you want, you can choose to do the things that interest you rather than just because ‘it’s your job.’
So back to the podcast and what I got out of it.
As Rich himself often says growth is not only necessary, it is our mandate. It is what we are put here on this earth to do.
Too much of what surrounds us is there to keep is a state of apathy and mild sedation. From the TV and media we watch and listen to, to the foods that are consumed en masse that have no benefit to our health or our development.
If we are not growing, not striving, not struggling on a daily basis then what is the point?
By struggle I mean holding yourself accountable to a greater version and working on that. I don’t mean it in the sense that you don’t have enough money to pay bills or put food on the table or anything like that. I mean pushing beyond you comfort zone and testing your limits regularly.
Be mindful of what you consume in media and in food for it all has an impact on our development. If you want to be better, choose better.
I never want to live a life that is comfortable or mundane. I will always strive to challenge myself and work for more. I don’t want to live the same year 90 times and call it a life.
‘Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.’
-Dylan Thomas
Thanks for taking the time to read this post. I hope you got something out of it. Let me know by leaving a comment. You can connect with me further on any of the locations below.
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