I've been meaning to unsubscribe from the listserve for a while now. I get really annoyed by the huge emails of life advice.
For that reason I thought that if I ever got chosen, I'd send a cheese joke or a witty one liner. But when I got the email it suddenly didn't seem that simple - it felt really weird - should I really do that when I have the opportunity to speak out to more people than I might ever get the chance to again?
So for better of for worse, this is what I've decided to say:
I like running. I used to hate people who said they liked running. It made me feel bad when I was sitting on the sofa eating cake. Now I still hate people who say they like running a bit, but I can eat more cake than I did before without becoming a human sphere.
I run for me. I run alone and I have my own targets. I race against myself. I run wherever I want to, whenever I want to.
If I have had a rubbish day, I can go for a run and it makes me feel better. I'm not sure about my direction in life, or my career, or my relationship, but running is something that I can be sure about.
People are really important, surround yourself with them and love them back - but ultimately you cannot trust them. People are unpredictable, just like you are.
So my advice to you for 2014 would be to go out and find something for you, just for you. Something that you can be totally selfish about. Something that you can come back to when the other things aren't going so well.
In 2014 I am going to run my first marathon. I don't know where I will be at with anything else in my life, things are far from perfect at the moment, but it feels so incredibly good to have one thing to be sure of.
S
[email protected]
London, England