To be honest, I don’t recall whether I have done something purely because I loved it.
Whenever I do something, I always think about how this will further my career or myself or what kind of monetary benefits or achievements I am hoping to get out of it.
I always feel great, I have achieved my goal, and now, on to the next one. It’s like a never-ending quest for something more.
Hence, when I read Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, I quickly felt like I had been wrong all the while.
Love came to mind. Not that kind of romantic love, but one that makes you excited to jump out of bed and get started for the day.
So, what does this have to do with the Tarahumara in the title?
The Tarahumara and How They View Running
The Tarahumara is an elusive clan living in the mountain ranges of Copper Canyon, Mexico — at least before the start of the 21st century.
Christopher McDougall wrote about them in the book, and he ran with them. You see, the Tarahumara were considered an urban legend in that they could run for days without rest and they do that almost barefoot (they tie a rubber piece to their feet).
To them, running is part and parcel of their daily life. From a young age, they play a game where they are divided into two teams and chase two balls down trails.
Very often, they will participate in ultra 50km to 100km runs just randomly. It’s like a ‘Eh, let’s run today, guys.’ And the night before, they will get themselves so pissed drunk. But the next day, they are fine and running the most gruelling race through the mountain trails.
The thing that attracted me the most was when Chris wrote this in the book about two of their best runners participating in a run
“They both put out their cigarettes and looked at each other. Then they smiled and gingerly and lightly ran up the mountain trail where they were behind the first runner.”
This is the most memorable passage from the book for me.
I felt jealous. Here were two people, unbothered by expectations, results or any kind of yearning for achievements, and just glad that they were running. They love running, so that’s why they are running. Nothing can take that love away from them.
The context here was that there was a U.S. ultra-marathon runner who was considered a legend, and she provoked or ‘trash-talked’ the Tarahumara runners (something that was very unlike her). She was in the first place then.
But by the end of the race, she was dead tired and suddenly, one of them just came out right behind and passed her. And he was doing it in a light-hearted fashion, just running like what he would usually do if he was taking a fun stroll around the mountains.
When she saw that, she collapsed and gave up. She was so overwhelmed by disappointment that she refused to run because she was going to lose anyway. Her husband had to push her back up again to finish second.
And there, at the finish line, all the Tarahumara just smiled at each other and treated it like every other race. It was all in good fun and they were just glad they got to run.
I was Constantly Burned Out
I can’t say for everyone out there. But I have been constantly burned out throughout my working career and even now.
Whenever I work, there needs to be a result or a benefit at the end of it. Like a higher pay or a fat bonus or a sense of achievement that comes out of it.
Before I start on anything, I will think to myself, what do I get out of this? Anything that will improve my prospects in life? If not, I don’t want to do it.
I am not afraid to say it. Show me the money first, then I will do it.
Hence, I got constantly burned out thinking about all the possible results before, during and after doing things.
There was little love. And I jump from one thing to another, crashing and burning.
Even when I ventured out to pursue my own writing business, I was thinking of the amount of attention and views that I could get. If no one is reading, the article has flopped. By that metric, almost 95% of all my articles have flopped.
And I felt the burnout severely. Another article with only 2 reads? I have failed. And I beat myself over it, resenting that my writing or marketing was not good enough.
The Tarahumara’s Concept of Love Changed How I Thought
Running is a blessing for the Tarahumara.
And every time that they get to do so, they are grateful for it. This quote from the book sums it up nicely.
“That was the real secret of the Tarahumara: they’d never forgotten what it felt like to love running. They remembered that running was mankind’s first fine art, our original act of inspired creation. Way before we were scratching pictures on caves or beating rhythms on hollow trees, we were perfecting the art of combining our breath and mind and muscles into fluid self-propulsion over wild terrain.”
I have forgotten what it means to love doing something regardless of the outcome.
When I first picked up a pen (or keyboard) to write, all I wanted to do was write whatever was on my mind. Each word, each sentence, it felt like I was living life. It felt like I was breathing slowly and gently as I wrote away. It was fun.
Throughout time, views, likes, and engagements came into the picture. That fun and love slowly died. I was more worried about whether my writing was good enough, will anyone read it, etc.
And when I finally read this passage from the book, it hit me like a truck.
“There are two goddesses in your heart,” he told them. “The Goddess of Wisdom and the Goddess of Wealth. Everyone thinks they need to get wealth first, and wisdom will come. So they concern themselves with chasing money. But they have it backwards. You have to give your heart to the Goddess of Wisdom, give her all your love and attention, and the Goddess of Wealth will become jealous, and follow you.” Ask nothing from your running, in other words, and you’ll get more than you ever imagined.”
Ask nothing from my writing and life. That was what I started telling myself. Write because I want to write. Because I love writing. And because life is too short to be constantly concerned about how something will turn out.
Conclusion
If you have not read ‘Born to Run’ by Christopher McDougall, I highly recommend you do so. It has changed my viewpoint in life.
I am going to let things flow. Trying to control everything has been tiring. I might not be earning much now, but I want to focus on the ‘Goddess of Wisdom’ first.
Love my writing and everything that I do in life. If we get to do something, that’s the best thing that you can hope for anything in life.
