Agatharied : Fighting with Running
Margurite from Cologne said to me this morning after our run together, “When I start my day with a run, I feel like I am ready to fight the rest of the day.” Now as the day in ending, I’m glad I ran too.
There six of us, two from Malaysia, one from Cologne, Barcelona, Zurich and Ireland. We panted uphill, trekked through some woods, stopped for a quick prayer at a giant outdoor altar of Jesus and then returning with the Alps soaring on our right.
The course so far had been extremely interesting and truly inspiring. In the room there are mathematician, tango dancer, medical doctor, grandfather, computer scientist and the diverse list goes on. We spend the entire day together, learning and exploring our own bodies and the bodies of others. In between all that, we are served five magnificient meals of home-cooked Bavarian food.
It is today I realized that my initial intention of coming here was to learn new knowledge especially about anatomy. I can’t say that it is really a breeze to just be in the room and listen. During the day, we are constantly exploring ourselves, our bodies and trying to make sense of our whole structure – physically, emotionally and perceptively.
Midday my brother informed me of sad news. Our dog, which we both grew up with since we were children, had passed away. Though there is every reason to feel sad for the loss – which I did at first, I decided to rejoice that he finally could finally end his wonderful 17 years of life. And to be happy about death is more difficult than to be sad.
After what felt like a long day, I headed out for a sunset walk and found an empty bench beneath a bare tree to sit on to watch the orange hues of the sun change as it descended. It was here I realized that these two weeks here is not about learning new knowledge and skills but instead to learn more about my own self. And there I was once again thankful for the run that set me up to face a day filled with such profound revelation.