So this is what I did with my Saturday evening; run 10 km with nearly 25 000 other people! It was a novel experience for me I can say, although good fun. Midnattsloppet (Midnight run) is a yearly spectacle has now been running in Stockholm for the last 30 years. Races also take place in Gothenburg on the 27th August and Helsingborg on the 3rd September.
The name is actually a bit misleading, and the first running groups (the ones that run the fastest) actually starting at 21.30, so very few of the runners are actually running at Midnight unless you are in one of the last groups. There were also two races earlier in the day for kids. So it was genuinely a spectacle that took up the whole of the Saturday.
For my part I was very unfit, and managed to get myself round in 1:02:07. This could have had something to do with the beers that I had had beforehand too of course! However, with all Swedish races it doesn't really feel like the time was all that important. There were fireworks, live bands around the course and crowds of supporters. Everyone also had the same Orange shirts on, although there was the odd runner in fancy dress or in shirts from other years who clearly could not be bothered to pay the entrance fee (these do not get timing chips and timed officially). This meant a truly fun atmosphere. I will most definetly be running again next year.
Monday 15 August 2011
Monday 8 August 2011
In search of happiness...
There's nothing like a Monday morning to make you incessantly think about where you are and the choices that you have made in life. Despite having had coffee as black as oil and porridge this morning, the need to return back to the safety and comfort of bed was almost irresistable. There is no worse a day. Possibly Thursday. Never could see the point in those. Anyway, this Monday has served to be more contemplative than most.
I don't know whether it is the decision to upend my life recently and move to Stockholm and I am afraid that things will not work out, but I am definetly double-guessing the decisions that I have made. I think what made things worse is a comment made by a friend whom has had a little more life experience than me yesterday:
"A place to live, my love life and my finances. Only once in my life have I got all these things right at one and the same time."
A poignant thing to say, and I think when he said it did not have much resonance. I mostly let it go and did not think of it's relevance currently to my life. Then I made what is with hindsight a bit of a poor decision on my part; I watched Will Smith's 'In pursuit of Happyness' on TV last night. I can't exactly say it was the best film that I have ever seen in my whole life. The man's struggle against poverty and doubters kept me at least from wanting to switch the channel. I also think Will Smith is an okish actor. It certainly beat Nicholas Cage's 'Gone in Sixty Seconds' which was available on the other channel. Having said that, the Cage film would have made me think less.
These two events in combination has made me wonder what happiness would be in my case. Neither of the three 'factors' that my friend mentioned are stable at the moment. My living situation is hopefully by the end of this week going to become more stable but is currently fluctuating, I have not had a relationship for four years (ish) now and my finances are currently shot to pieces, not helped by the fact that I have now needed to start paying rent. I think all of these are making me displeased with things right now, but the question is whether even if I had all these things, would I then be happy? The Smith film had a way of making happiness seem very simplistic, in as soon as he achieved his goal he was then automatically 'happy.'
This is naturally very Hollywood, and I would argue that happiness is entirely episodic. I may have had these problems for a number of years now, but I cannot say that I have actively horribly depressed the last few years. Far from it in fact, I have had episodes of what I would say is extreme happiness. I think it is a fallacy to suggest that the achievement of one thing would give automatic happiness, it is truer that life is a combination of shorter and longer term goals that in the end will mean fulfillment. But then I also believe that human beings were largely not built to be content, as they simply do not function without goals. In this case the Smith film is completely right.
So setting my short term goals straight now. I have decided that another cup of coffee would make me very happy, so I will do that. I am hoping the rest will sort itself out sooner rather than later.
I don't know whether it is the decision to upend my life recently and move to Stockholm and I am afraid that things will not work out, but I am definetly double-guessing the decisions that I have made. I think what made things worse is a comment made by a friend whom has had a little more life experience than me yesterday:
"A place to live, my love life and my finances. Only once in my life have I got all these things right at one and the same time."
A poignant thing to say, and I think when he said it did not have much resonance. I mostly let it go and did not think of it's relevance currently to my life. Then I made what is with hindsight a bit of a poor decision on my part; I watched Will Smith's 'In pursuit of Happyness' on TV last night. I can't exactly say it was the best film that I have ever seen in my whole life. The man's struggle against poverty and doubters kept me at least from wanting to switch the channel. I also think Will Smith is an okish actor. It certainly beat Nicholas Cage's 'Gone in Sixty Seconds' which was available on the other channel. Having said that, the Cage film would have made me think less.
These two events in combination has made me wonder what happiness would be in my case. Neither of the three 'factors' that my friend mentioned are stable at the moment. My living situation is hopefully by the end of this week going to become more stable but is currently fluctuating, I have not had a relationship for four years (ish) now and my finances are currently shot to pieces, not helped by the fact that I have now needed to start paying rent. I think all of these are making me displeased with things right now, but the question is whether even if I had all these things, would I then be happy? The Smith film had a way of making happiness seem very simplistic, in as soon as he achieved his goal he was then automatically 'happy.'
This is naturally very Hollywood, and I would argue that happiness is entirely episodic. I may have had these problems for a number of years now, but I cannot say that I have actively horribly depressed the last few years. Far from it in fact, I have had episodes of what I would say is extreme happiness. I think it is a fallacy to suggest that the achievement of one thing would give automatic happiness, it is truer that life is a combination of shorter and longer term goals that in the end will mean fulfillment. But then I also believe that human beings were largely not built to be content, as they simply do not function without goals. In this case the Smith film is completely right.
So setting my short term goals straight now. I have decided that another cup of coffee would make me very happy, so I will do that. I am hoping the rest will sort itself out sooner rather than later.
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