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Article Source: The Positive Observer
 Running has been a big part of my life over the past two decades. Other than devoting time to my children and wife, running, both trail and road have filled many hours and days of my past and present life.
My adventures have carried me through most mid-size and large cities across the US, Central and Western Canada. I have explored the Appalachian, Rocky, Wasatch, Sierra, and Cascade Mountains. Each landscape is vastly different. Each holds its own storybook of experiences. My personal explorations are now contained within their chapters. There is something very beautiful about discovering local culture on foot. You become part of the culture and the environment around you.
Cradle each moment...
My vivid attentiveness towards my surroundings has given me a greater appreciation in regards to each experience and in understanding myself. A person cannot help but to grow and mature proportionally during such adventures. Whether running with fellow runners or encountering the trail alone, I have found moments of profound reflection, reflections that weave through the tributaries of my life. I have found that the elements of my most primal and universal self are the ones I gravitate towards the most. The rediscovery of each and the space between them are equally adventurous, especially in relation to the path I am traveling on a particular day.
So how heartfelt has "running" been for me? Well, over the years, I have "run" with many of you. If only mentally, I have carried aspects of you and your companionship with me on my journeys. Different journeys for different people. Different moments and inspirations for different people. Whether running through the boroughs of Boston, NYC, San Francisco or mountainous summits of 13,000+ feet or serene single-track trails in between, there is a desire to share it all. The whole experience: cardio, visual and spiritual. Sorry that I didn't ask your permission. But hey, I thought enough of you to bring you along, right? So now you have that going for you, eh?
I have often contemplated ways to share such experiences with people over the years: strapping small video cameras to my body, quick pictures from a cell phone or more advanced cameras, literary works, running invites and personal conversations. Yet, the pictures and descriptions often fall short in conveying my core messages and inspirations.
Wouldn't it be neat to just tap someone on the forehead so that they, even for just a couple of seconds could fully feel your experience? That animated surge of Wow? You know, another person's "happy pill" but with learnings and experiences tied into it or a little added insight on how things could be in their life, especially when feeling stuck or looking for something new and meaningful. But experiences are personal. We each need to "live and learn so we can learn to live." Regardless, our individual physiology, actions and expressions, do project onto others, if even in small doses. Suitable messages are conveyed.
Share...
So, why I am donating this aspect of myself to you? Well, to share...to share something that I am passionate about. A devotion. An intensity. A pulse that blends and offers congruency in my life. Humans have an innate desire to teach and communicate with others, especially when they are passionate about something. Sharing, engaging and considering the learnings that are being presented. Everything out there is information. The key is what you choose to do with it.
If you follow the news these days, it appears as though a large segment of the population is passionate about being angry, fearful or argumentative. If nothing else, folks seem passionate about finding opportunities to experience and express such situations. At least there is passion, right? But are there healthier choices?
What about you?
 What is true and pure in your life? What are you passionate about? What inspires you? Did you loose something along the way? Can you find it again? How about starting and nurturing a new one? Obsessions not required. Just something that allows you to be "playful" again in your life. Uninhibited. Maybe start by being passionate about yourself.
Need a new strategy? New strategies are actually quite easy to formulate. Just pause for a moment (a rarity in the 21st century), then become aware of how you see, hear and feel something. Then tweak it a little. Just shift the pattern. See, hear and feel yourself in the new pattern. Play it again.Life does not have to be as difficult and complex as people make it out to be. There is plenty room in our lives and heads for a little entertainment and passion.
(See: Exercise on Role Playing)
Huh!
Did you know that levels of stress actually decrease during economic downturns? Due to slower work paces, less hours on the job and the need to focus on what the true priorities are in your life, the body and its hormonal flow actually shift. There is more time to focus on self, to discover, evaluate and creatively restructure the elements of your immediate world. New advances in human spirit and in new technology arise from such moments. Would now be a good time to open up an untapped hobby, childhood desire or degree of spontaneity that you have yet to explore?
External Significance...
Consider how your passionate drive might influence those around you. Clearly, some endeavors are more advantageous than others, but having something is a good start. Is it possible for you to have a positive impact on people close to you? As a parent, what script are you indirectly handing over to your children? Does the script allow them to experience curiosity, chance and passion?
Consider how your public display of laughter and quality time with your children can influence friends and neighbors, especially those people whose daily schedules or personal reservations limit them from doing the same with their children. Consider how a new found interest turns into a passion which turns into an organization which then motivates another person to move forward in their life. What if that one person turns into a community? What if the one community crosses over new borders and becomes many more communities? What if the result of it all moves the greater whole out of the past and into the present? What then?
Take a chance on yourself. Rediscover a little passion!
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