Commitment and Sad Maps

While running yesterday, in driving cold rain, I realised what a difference my sad little map had made. To be honest, it would have been far easier to quit and sit in front of a warm fire. But no, I persevered, all because of my sad little map. In that moment of decision, I thought: 'I can't stop, the lines on the map will be shorter'. How sad. But how revealing. It is when we commit to something, that things start to happen, thoughts change, things change. Dreams BECOME reality. Commitment also gets more powerful when it is 'committed' to paper and is further strengthened when that commitment is shared with others i.e. this blog. But of course, I am not the first person to discover this, as Goethe, the 18th century poet and philosopher (one of my mentors) spoke eloquently about the subject:

"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness
has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now".

But I think Bill Murray, who led the Scottish Himalayan expedition in 1951, said it best:

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative ( and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way."

So quite naturally, I will end this blog with my sad little map, which is no longer sad because it is now a dream bringer. PS I've had to change course because the initial track is now waterlogged…I think I'm up to around 2 mile and I've lost 5 pound so far, I'll share some diet tips in the next blog. Until then, all the very best, Allen