Recently, I have become convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that our world would end (not just end as we know it but THE END) if running disappeared. Before you dismiss this hypothesis, let me make the case for this strong assertion.
Running has become so basic and fundamental to so many millions of people to provide an amazing array of exercise benefits, not limited to endorphins, keeping us healthy, and restoring those to health who are struggling with health issues or conditions currently.
Furthermore, the creativity-boosting brain-powering benefits of running cannot be overstated. We all become entangled and enmeshed in mental cobwebs that distract, annoy, and stress us. Running allows us to brush these cobwebs out and leave them behind on the trail, giving us a fresh new perspective, attitude and vision. We all need outlets that allow us to relieve stress, unwind, and get some cardiovascular exercise.
Running is imaginative and the stimulation of nature is a major benefit to all of us. It provides food for the soul that we all need to be well nourished mentally and physically.
Running gives us confidence in our abilities, helping us find new ways to confront and defeat any challenge in our path. Even our challenges become hurdles we can jump over in many cases.
Without running, you would have a lot more arguments and hot tempers, crowded streets to the point that we might as well walk everywhere, and a lot more chaos in general. Frequently when chaos accumulates, it can reach a point of no return unless there is an intervention of some sort. So if the chaos caused by running disappearing was sufficient, it could trigger the end of the world. Not immediately but eventually.
No running would cause more of us to become inert and sedentary, further contributing to health problems to the point that we would have a sicker, less healthy society which could at some point reach a break point and deteriorate into nothingness. Illness and chronic disease would control our lives to such an extent that many of us would die prematurely without adequate healthy exercise to reverse these conditions.
Without running, there would be a lot less joy, happiness, and love in the world. Running is a key form of exercise that enriches our lives in giving us deeper senses of joy, happiness, love, and inner peace (which radiates to the world in the form of outer peace).
Perhaps denying society the amazing transformational gift of running would cause us to devolve from a civilized society into a state of nature (like animals) where more primal urges govern without the restraint and self-control that running provides, including an inner sense of calm, peace, serenity, and tranquility.
Without peace and tranquility, we are left with chaos, destruction, and war. Please pass on the preference for peace and tranquility with running not only to your families, friends, and children, but to everyone.
Running has helped so many of us not only physically but also mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to develop the strength, courage, fortitude, and perseverance that we need to live our lives, inspire others, and give back in meaningful ways, valuing each person with human dignity instead of treating people as mere numbers.
Regardless of pace, running provides a common unifying bond that unites all runners (whether we admit it or not). We all understand the benefits, challenges, and gifts that running provides. We know that we must appreciate each day and not take any runs for granted as it all can be taken away with injuries/illness or when we pass from this life to the next.
Running fosters a sense of generosity: runners inspiring and helping each other instead of simply acting to protect and defend our own self-interest without concern for the consequences of our brothers and sisters who run.
Put simply, a world without running would be a dark, dangerous, chaotic, destructive place that could probably not exist for long without imploding or exploding into outer space. Perish the thought!
Therefore, a world without running would disappear, perhaps rapidly, because running is irreplaceable. It is unlike any other physical pursuit and provides unique gifts and benefits for all of us regardless of our size, shape, gender, or personal challenges. So let’s keep running intact as it holds one of the keys to keeping our world a safe, happy, joyful, serene, peaceful, tranquil place.
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