The Caveman Within

Happy Thursday! It's my favorite day of the week because it’s my last day of work! However, today was a little challenging because I had to do my long run (I’m training for a marathon) in the middle of the day in 80-something degree heat. I had early patients and late patients today so midday was the only time to squeeze in 9 miles.

I always listen to podcasts when I run and today I was listening to Rich Roll (have you listened to his podcast? So so good! He’s smart as a whip and has great guests) and the episode was about mindset. For the last 5 minutes of the run, I took out my earbuds and thought about how mindset applies to this challenge I’m doing.

The first thing that came to me was the parallel between my marathon training mindset and the mindset I’ve brought to this instant gratification detox. I sign up for these things, willingly, excitedly, and then when it gets hard I start questioning why I’m even doing it. I so easily forget about the big picture and get so myopic in my thinking. “I don’t want to run 9 miles in the heat!” “I just want to watch a show and zone out – what’s wrong with that?” The part of my brain that craves comfort, ease, and efficient pathways to pleasure gets so loud sometimes.

Then again, that’s what our brains are programmed for, right? I mean, in the caveman days, it was much more helpful to our survival to seek out pleasure and comfort (a warm cave to sleep in, some delicious berries) then to purposely be uncomfortable in service of personal growth. I don’t think any of those cavemen would have willingly signed up to run for 26.2 miles if there was not a damn good reason to – like chasing their next meal.

Fortunately, many human beings are not in this situation anymore. Our basic survival is no longer a big threat so we can focus on personal growth and self-actualization. So, at least in my experience, I feel like I’m always caught in between my caveman-like brain and my desire to push limits and grow into a better version of myself. I have no great revelations about what this all means yet, but I’m hoping these small insights along the way will eventually lead to some bigger picture. With that, I hope you have a wonderful Thursday and I’ll talk to you tomorrow!