Who has not thought – at some point – about running away?
· … from oppression …
· … from boredom …
· … from constraint …
· … from inextricable calamity
· … from clamoring, cloying, conscriptive dependencies …
“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn!”
Rhett Butler to Scarlett O’Hara
Gone With The Wind
And who, given half a chance, does not wish to run away from a grave mistake – or two or three? How about away from oppressive indebtedness?
Life has a way of “piling up”, and running away seems to be constitutively in our blood. Besides avoiding oppression, we want unencumbered adventure and stimulation without the burden of accountability or having to mop up after ourselves.
Fortunate is the person who has the wherewithal plus a clear path to run TOWARD something of intrinsic and lasting value!
“Running away” starts early and takes many different forms, beginning with the engagement of fantasy. Television, movies, video games and the internet robustly support and sustain fantasy.
Then there are drugs and alcohol … particularly beyond the point that our invincible Superman underwear stops working.
We’d have to include “comfort foods” here, as well; nobody or nothing can legitimately infringe on us while we’re performing basic life functions.
Muriel was the designated top associate in the Dean’s Office at the new medical school. Building a whole new enterprise to a point of highest national standards was a tough business and Muriel got stressed out a lot. The other female staff eventually figured out that Muriel was spending an inordinate amount of time in the Ladies’ Room doing crossword puzzles!
But running away is not always black or white /\ Yin or Yang. Yin/Yang alternatives abound, short reprieves are generally all that’s needed to get us back on a productive track, and some of them can actually be regenerative.
Exercise is one such alternative. A sincere and sacrificial attempt to “better oneself” is difficult to fault. The endorphin “rush”, the aura of “being focused on task”, the increased fitness and physical capacity, the improved body image, and the overall sense of wellbeing are enviable by-products. This does not excuse, however, completing one’s formal education or becoming better armed for career advancement or becoming more engaged in community service, or being productively engaged in family affairs.
Hamilton was an upper-class fraternity brother who finally figured it out, acknowledging that the semesters he played intramural football were his academically best; he was too tired to do anything but study during his otherwise unscheduled time!
Work-a-holism has been lampooned for ages – particularly by those with lucrative careers built on telling people they don’t have to work so hard. But burying oneself in generative lifework beats sitting in a bar or warming a park bench with a hard luck story any time. And it can have some amazingly positive consequences.
“One must learn to translate desperate need and strong feelings
into useful labor.”
Jim Rohn
Yoga/spiritual engagement/meditation is the preferred alternative for many – where running away from the stress of life is actually a productive form of “centering down”.
Unlikely champions – people who start out life in some incredible valley of misfortune yet who rise to the top of their chosen field of endeavor – are engaged in ceaseless running … both running away from any and all they have been or do not want to be and running toward their own “unreachable star”.
To many, such sacrificial running is completely unnecessary. But keep running we must! A month from now, a year from now, 5-10-20 years from now, we’re going to have to be at very different places than we are today. Whether it’s running away from today, here and now or running toward brighter tomorrows or both, we need to keep moving in the most positive direction possible.
Final Points to Ponder
We can’t always run away. More times than not, we’ve got to stand our ground and fight our way through thick and thin to a, hopefully, better end. But respite is important when the stress and heat get too intense. Thus, we need to cultivate our own best practice/best outcome system of clearing the playing field to make a better way for full-bore, total intentional engagement. Quartermaster
“The blows that a life of self-control
Spares to strike for the common good,
That day, giving a loose to my soul,
I spend on the unimportant wood.”
“Two Tramps in Mud Time
Robert Frost
