By Chandler JamesI started the 2021 Los Angeles Marathon next to a barefoot runner named Albert Perusset, who I would later learn was the world record holder for running barefoot marathons. After the race, I looked him up and discovered a profound editorial he penned for a digital magazine called Mr Feelgood. Unfortunately, the marathon we ran together would be his last, an astonishing 211th barefoot marathon. Perusset passed away only a month after the race. However, the wisdom he shared lives on through the people he inspired. This post is dedicated to the memory of Albert Perusset, who left an indelible impact on me through our brief interaction and his sage advice. Perusset’s value system begins and ends with the contention that “life is a gift,” something to be treasured and appreciated. The purpose of life is to use your time wisely—on things that make you happy and healthy. Perusset said running was the ideal way for him to spend his time because it did both of those things at the same time. Running serves a similar function for me. My long runs are a form of meditation and an opportunity to reconnect with myself.
One of the primary benefits of running is being outside and viscerally connecting with your lived environment. This is why Perusset ran barefoot. He considered it a form of grounding, a way to tap into “all the energy channels [that] go through you, from Earth to the universe.” Although I typically run with shoes, I’ve done several long barefoot runs. I can attest to being more conscientious than usual, attuned to my surroundings and the impact of where and how I was stepping. Zen Buddhism and Socrates greatly influence Perusset. He invokes Socrates’ dictum to “know thyself” as the first of three things in his formula for happiness. The second is to be aware. The third is gratitude. His ethics is parsimonious and compelling. Possessing philosophical weightiness forged through practical experience. His ranking of these ingredients and their interdependence and interrelation intrigues me. Self-knowledge is fundamental to being a moral agent. This is one of the main reasons I set challenging goals, like running ultramarathons, getting a PhD, or starting new endeavors. I’ve found that you can only discover who you truly are by testing your self-perceived limitations. Achieving hard things requires consistency, determination, and grit. The sense of self-efficacy derived from clarity of purpose and proven success furnishes the confidence to seek new experiences and greater self-understanding. What holds most people back is fear. Anything is possible when you know what you want and you’re willing to stretch yourself to get it. Man is something to be overcome. Pain and suffering are a part of the human experience. How you deal with this fact determines your life satisfaction. Perusset takes a Zen mindset to suffering. He writes, “Problems come and go. They are like clouds in the sky.” In this way, life's suffering is endemic and transient. However, through meditation, one can become aware of the impermanence of discomfort and comfort. By noticing how our thoughts change from moment to moment, we can create distance from our internal monologue, which is adept at judging and planning. There was a period of my life when I was depressed and nihilistic. I couldn’t see the point of life. I’d cope in unhealthy ways. A few years ago, I started more constructively dealing with life’s difficulties. I reached out for help. I started eating more consciously – more plants and whole foods, less processed stuff. I started hiking, camping, climbing, and practicing yoga. Nature is healing. When I moved to the Pacific Northwest, I started running, biking, and meditating regularly. It was life-giving. Scientists are beginning to take notice of these alternative forms of therapy to combat disaffection. A recent research study found that running therapy is just as effective as antidepressants on mental health. Sometimes, it can be hard to make a major life change, especially when you’re in a dark place. But there’s hope. Perusset’s editorial is a practical guide to living well. He offers concrete and straightforward suggestions for how to improve the quality of your life. Coping with life’s difficulties with enriching practices can help us contend with life’s challenges without turning to toxic, counterproductive measures that promulgate our pain in the long term but mask it in the short term. His best advice concerns habits, based on his belief that “the human mind by nature is very lazy, so you have to play tricks with your mind.” Perhaps the biggest trick you can play on your mind is to set a big, worthwhile goal and create and stick to a plan that will help you achieve it. Goals and routines are constructive tools to circumvent a mental tendency toward complacency or homeostasis. Goals keep us moving and striving. Routines make it possible to achieve goals worth accomplishing. So much of what happens is out of our control. How you react is up to you. Take some time to disconnect from the cacophony of the outside world and listen to yourself. Discover your calling and take action. With determination and self-confidence, we can realize our full potential and learn about ourselves in the process. Achievement and public recognition sometimes coincide with self-actualization. Sometimes they don’t. External praise can be gratifying, but ultimately, “peace, and everything you are looking for, is inside of you.”
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