This morning I took a nice 9-mile jog from our flat in Midtown Sacramento to Discovery Park, across the bridge, to Old Sacramento, and back home. It was a nice calm Sunday morning, with one interesting wrinkle that I haven’t usually seen here in Sacramento: a thick blanket of morning fog. By the end of the run, at about 10am, the fog had receded, but for at least half of it the landscape was thick with white.
In fact, the picture for this post was from about two miles into the jog, crossing a bridge at the American River. To be fair, fog didn’t impact my run in any bad way, but it made for an interesting visual experience.
This wasn’t the easiest of my longer runs. For whatever reason, I was somewhat foggy in my head (pun not intended), and I have noticed how much this impacts me physically. I felt somewhat sluggish, and had to push myself to get going. Yet overall, it was quite satisfying, as all my runs tend to be.
Jogging isn’t always easy, but it is basically always satisfying for me. If it wasn’t, why do it? I know there are a lot of people out there who probably exercise out of a feeling of obligation. I certainly understand: I have tried to do many things from that place. And it never really works! The only reason I have been consistently exercising 3-5 times per week for over 11 years now is because I enjoy it and find it satisfying!
This satisfaction piece is so important! It is the missing link for many people in finding their happiness. If you take two different people doing the same exact thing, they might be having completely different experiences, one very positive, one very negative. The first person may be doing something because they genuinely enjoy it, even if it’s challenging. It calls to them, it fits for them. The second person, try as that might, is trying to force themselves to do something because they “should.” I have found, from ample personal experience, that forcing myself to do things because I think I “should” do them just doesn’t work long term.
So in thinking about this morning’s jog through the fog, there was a moment there where I asked myself, “Is this satisfying?”
I’m happy to say that the answer was a resounding Yes!
