This is a review of the book I have finished reading 2 months ago – “What I talk about when I talk about running”. I could’ve just pleasurably closed the last pages and start a new book, but the book hangover effect is still lingering on my mind. Therefore, I decided to externalize those feelings.

The book takes on the form of a memoir, retails the memories of the author as he trained, competed, and eventually reflected upon his experience. There’s much wisdom to be gained from these pages, and somehow, it just powerfully resonates with me, living, as I do, in a similar circumstance.

Your potential is unlimited

Murakami didn’t consider running or writing professionally until his thirties. Then, he decided to become a full-time writer and shortly, he started running seriously. Ever since, he has organized much of his life around the habit of running. While his dedication has ebbed and flowed, it has never completely abated. Since first hitting the road, the author has completed 23 marathons – one every year. This is what he wrote in his book: “Most runners run not because they want to live longer, but because they want to live life to the fullest. If you’re going to while away the years, it’s far better to live them with clear goals and fully alive then in a fog, and I believe running helps you to do that. Exerting yourself to the fullest within your individual limits: that’s the essence of running, and a metaphor for life — and for me, for writing as whole.”

Believe it or not, there are so much thing you can do even though you thought you couldn’t. Our potential is virtually expanding according to our belief and our followed actions. I never thought that I would be about to get accepted to the residency program when I was about to graduate from med school, given that my profile is quite mediocre, and my GPA were merely admissible. Then, through the inspiration I took from a senior, I decided to spend my last years to strive hard for one last time. I signed up for essential courses and burned the midnight oil. The more I go, the more confident I grow in myself, my goal were getting more and more grounded. Then, I made it. If you believe and you contrive, and you will achieve.

Motivation comes from within.

For Murakami, competing against other people, whether in daily life or in field of work, is not a lifestyle that he is pursuing. His standard of success is defined based on his own, personal expectation. When he runs, it’s less about the glory and medals of a runner and more about acquiring the meditative “void”. When he writes books, it’s less about impressing an audience and more about satisfying his own desires. “The point is whether or not I improved over yesterday. In long-distance running the only opponent you have to beat is yourself, the way you used to be”.

I am kind of an ambitious girl. And yet, after many consecutive rejections and failures, I became skeptical in my ability, my potentials. I ranked my accomplishments in compliance with other’s and valued myself conforming to my rivals. Yes, I used to be poisoned by vestiges of jealousy and drown by deep insecurity. I was trapped in a trepidation of self – created depression and constant worries about my future. This is not what I want my life to be, therefore I changed, slowly but substantially. It is not an overnight improvement, yet a painful process of self-desensitization. At the end of the day, me – myself is my one and only competitor. I am also a runner; thus, I believe that running is such an obviously mental game. Just like when I run, my legs feel detached from my body, very muscles of mine scream out for help, then my brain will persuade me to “just go one extra mile if I have to” – this is my motto that keep me going until now.

Life is all about perseverance.

Running is a metaphor of life if you choose to view it that way. Murakami’s writing not only establishes the metaphor but beautifies it. The most profound may be of what it takes to be a professional writer – this may have more to do with what it takes to be an endurance athlete: endurance and focus.

There is no such thing as overnight success. It takes time and commitment to achieve challenging goals. What often seems like a sudden breakthrough is almost always the result of effort and hard work that happens behind the scenes.

I have a dream and I am working on it. But this dream is big and the path to my destination is far and strenuous. Every step is sapping up my time, effort and emotional reservoir. Sometimes, I think of giving up. Man, this hurt, I can’t take it anymore. Then, a small squeak voice, which is from a corner of my subconsciousness, vibrates into a stern and affirmative declaration. “I must not surrender. This is something I do because I want it”. When the odds are stacked against me, what keeps me going is discipline Therefore, I force myself to read nearly every night, to practice little by little to help me get closer to my goal. Every effort counts.