Belief & Babies

I have just jumped into bed after running 11 miles on a cold, wet and windy Sunday night. This turns out to be the farthest I have ever run in a single attempt. It's not far by athletic standards, nor was it particularly fast, but this run taught me a lot about myself. I have posted the output from my Gamin here if you're interested. 

Before deciding to go out for a run, I was moping about the house needlessly sorting my supplements /vitamins for the week. I was still suffering from a two-day hangover (we will come back to that) and quite honestly I was feeling sorry for myself. I felt I had wasted my weekend and hadn't really achieved much with my spare time - which is something I value greatly. It wasn't until I walked upstairs and into my bedroom that I spotted something (I will come back to this also) that gave me the motivation to salvage some dignity for myself and go for a run.

This made me want to talk about discipline. It's a word that is pretty unfashionable these days. We live in a world that encourages instant gratification. I can order a pizza and consume more than my daily recommended amount of calories in less than 30 minutes. I can turn on a TV or a computer and demand to be entertained by pushing a few buttons. I can check my email, or facebook and see if I have any posts or comments to read. Instant gratification is not new to our society but it is definitely more accessible and it is more of a problem. Instant gratification detracts from long term ambition and creates addictive behaviours that become very destructive. As the age-old expression goes - easy come, easy go! Alcoholism, drug abuse, obesity, depression - these are all conditions that are fuelled by instantly gratifying addictions.

This doesn't make quick and easy pleasures the spawn of Satan... far from it... I am simply going to suggest that they should not be allowed to become habitual, but this is easier said than done. It is not easy to apply discipline in a scenario where the temptations are so readily available. Discipline requires BELIEF. Belief is the foundation from which discipline can be built.

Belief implies an understanding of a future outcome. Belief associates what you are doing now with something that may happen in the future. By its very nature, belief is a long-term concept that inspires discipline and protects us from spiralling into the comfort of short-term and ultimately empty fixes. If you are someone who struggles with discipline, if you struggle to say no to unhealthy habits then you should try spending some time thinking about what you believe in - what matters to you? what do you stand for?


Some people turn to religion for belief. Some people turn to family and others choose morals or principles. There are a number things that matter to each of us and if we spend more time thinking about them -consciously- and sharing the outcomes of these thoughts with others (people that mater in our lives) we will notice our sense of belief started to grow. This doesn't just happen overnight and it is clear to see that most people on the path to significance are also the people that have harnessed their beliefs to good effect - they are emotionally, mentally, spiritually and even physically invested in their beliefs.

Strong beliefs enable us to say no to things that we know to be -in the long run- bad for us (or not congruent with our long term plans). Strong beliefs enable our sense of duty and commitment to overpower our fickle short-term moods. It is at this point -where our beliefs are stronger than our mood swings- that we will make progress on our own individual paths to personal significance. It takes time though... it's not instant, this will not happen overnight and we all need to find inspiration along the way. Don't journey alone and take pleasure from the length of your journey not how quickly it ends.

With all this said, I want to come back to a couple of points I made at the beginning of the blog - firstly, I would like to share with you the symbol of motivation for my run this evening. The humble Poppy.

The Poppy -to me- embodies everything I just talked about. Many lives have been lost in military conflicts around the world. Most of those men didn't want to go to war but believed they had to. When these men were stood in trenches with their feet rotting in their boots and their ears ringing from gunfire and other ordnance, they probably thought often about going home - but they stayed anyway. These soldiers didn't have the choice of quitting because their sense of belief and comradely was too strong. Britain united these men to fight in her wars but it was the belief and sense of friendship and brotherhood that inspired their extraordinary sacrifices and bravery.

A famous quote -ironically from an anonymous source- shows the power of belief:

"A soldier once told me that you will know when you find yourself in a good place to die. What you do will not feel like a sacrifice, it will feel like an opportunity. This moment will be obvious and clear. The decision will be simple. The decision will be made for you. When hundreds of lives are at stake, one life seems insignificant... but sometimes one life can make a difference." Anonymous.

In summary, after seeing that Poppy, I didn't feel right dodging my run. My excuses were ultimately pathetic and that Poppy provided me with the reality check that I needed to remain true to my goal and run. Many many men before me didn't have the choice to sit on their backside and do it tomorrow, I do, thanks to their sacrifice, I will remember that.

The second point I said I would come back to was concerning my hangover. I would just like to take a few sentences to congratulate my good friends Neil and Donna on the birth of their first child Arthur. I had the pleasure of being their best man at their wedding last year and it makes me so happy to see their family blossom. What does this have to do with my hangover? Well, let's just say that Neil and I may have had a few celebratory drinks on Friday night to wet the baby's head. For this reason, I would like to dedicate this blog -and my run- to little Arthur. It was his arrival that prompted the chain of events this weekend and therefore delivered me the circumstances to find the motivation for this blog - and my very enjoyable run!

If you enjoyed reading this blog and care as passionately as I do about the sacrifices our great servicemen and women make on our behalf, please could you take a few minutes to sponsor my Great South Run efforts, where I will be wearing the iconic Poppy on behalf of The Royal British Legion. My sponsorship page is here

Thanks for Reading,

Chancey