To get away for an hour or two from the fast paced and stressful daily life
Most of us are familiar with the daily grind. Getting up at 6am, sending the kids to school by 7am, sending the spouse to work by 8am, and reaching office by 9am. As if the two hours of traffic jams to start the day isn’t bad enough. Getting out of office by 6pm, picking the spouse and kids by 7pm. Getting stuck in another jam thereafter. Reaching home at 8pm for dinner. Wash, rinse and repeat 5 days a week, and this is life for most of us in Singapore.
I need to run to release accumulated tension and stress.
To get into the trend of running
Every weekend there is a race. “Run For …“, “Race For …“, “… Run” and “… Marathon”
In the last few years, running has become the “in” thing in Singapore. The competitive aspect of racing certainly speaks to most Singaporeans. For some, racing is about obtaining a finisher tee, wearing them around during the weekend as hard-earned bragging rights. And why not? It beats spending every weekend in a club till 5am.
For me, running and racing is about enhancing my lifestyle during the weekends. Rather than lying in bed till the kids wake up for another mundane weekend of shopping and eating, I would rather have the chance to spend 2-3 hours to myself, contemplating life through engaging with nature rather than buying into the culture of superficial wants and desires.
To look fit and healthy
In our mid-thirties, we dread the day people start greeting us with, “Hello, Uncle!” Most of us no longer bother about our appearances outside of work. But I do. Looking good and feeling good are the first steps to lifting my morale daily. It helps me cultivate a positive attitude, rather than being negative and grumpy about all the small things. I’m positively receiving and enjoying challenges that comes along every other hour.
As we have seen over the past weeks from all the news stories around the world, disaster and dangers lurk in every corner. Life is short. Running helps me make the most of life.
Why run? I say, why not?