The Side Effects of Endorphins

I used to run this race in Central Oregon. It was one of the easier 50 km races so you tended to run it faster than normal.

Usually at about the 24 mile mark, you would either get bored, or your muscles would start hurting

And you know what helped? At about 24 miles you run through a lava field where one had to be careful with their footing. In early September, there were plenty of bees in those lava fields. And inevitably you would get a bee sting.

Yes, those bee stings hurt. But for the next hour or so, you were distracted by how much your legs hurt and the task at hand was put in the background..

Certainly, I’ve been through some really hard times in my life. And I never had a strategy and I winged it much like I did during the race in McKenzie River. Hindsight has 2020 vision, but I believe it got me through with diversity.

Your short term financial situation may be dire, but at least you got in a run for the day. Yes there are side effects to endorphins . The world may be a chaotic quagmire, but one can live the life of a five-year-old and your perspective changes a bit. See the world through their eyes. It’s a lot brighter.

One has to be pragmatic. My crisis Dijour is nothing compared to my friend who has only a year or two to live. My crisis for tomorrow, pales in comparison to the single mother who just had her benefits taken away from her. And of course now that I’m older than 29 years old I have experienced enough to know the ebbs and flows a life.

But we are all not the same. My wife’s reaction to stress is way different than mine. So in a sense I kind of outsourced the panicking in our family and she outsources staying calm. Neither is a great strategy, but the portfolio works.

Certainly, it’s not that simple as I get back to the last mile of finishing that race in McKenzie River. I finished the race in five hours and 45 minutes. I believe it’s a personal best.

And then I get notice that my friend had to get teleported to the hospital and never finished the race. He’s allergic to bees. he never knew that.