The runner's scripture,
Speaking of running as a way to live life more deeply

Those who have been running into the street driven by an unknown force begin to wonder why they are running so hard when they start to feel out of breath and their legs start to feel heavy.
This feeling, which any long-distance runner experiences, is something that cannot be solved simply with diet or exercise, although there may be a difference in time.
“Running and Being” is a book written for such moments.
However, even if you don't necessarily run, "Running and Being" helps you reflect on the meaning of long-distance running called life.
Although this book seems to be about running, it doesn't use any technical running terminology.
Only George Sheehan's own heavy breathing and footprints remain.
This is where the charm of this book lies.
Instead of sitting at a desk and listing metrics to runners, Sheen runs alongside them, sweating and feeling alongside them.
He says that such an attitude will lead to a life of sweating in life.


He also tries to find meaning in life through running at the extreme limits of physical strength.
Instead of vaguely saying, "Let's do it this way," say, "If you actually try it, it should be like this."
What really resonates with me more than what to eat or what shoes to wear is Sheen's running 'posture'.
When times get tough, Sheen thinks that enduring this moment is the same as enduring all the hardships that come with life, and then takes the next step.
In this way, Sheen suggests running as a way to live life more deeply.
"Running and Being," a book steeped in the author's sweat and tears, will serve as a valuable guide to enriching the long-distance race of life.

When we look at our daily lives, our thoughts seem to lack logic and our physical movements seem to be arbitrary, but when we listen to our hearts, we can see that we get different results.
Beliefs take root in such a mind.
Through that heart we attain the highest practice of courage.
It means that you will have the courage to live.
Raise both arms to protect yourself and become your own protector.

--- pp.34-35

A true runner isn't someone who runs because they're too small to play soccer, can't shoot the basketball hoop well, or can't hit a curveball.
Runners run because they have to.
As a runner, enduring pain, fatigue, and suffering, facing stress with stress, and trying to keep only the essentials in life, the runner becomes true to himself and becomes himself.

--- p.56

Running changed all that.
It allowed me to look at my inner landscape in a new way.
I accepted the up and down inside me, the inside and the outside, my anxious existence and the process of change.
I did my best.
I enjoyed it with patience.
I tried not to judge anything without making an effort.
On that basis, more was demanded.

--- p.70

Isn't tomorrow the first day of the rest of my life? If so, wouldn't it be the beginning of a life completely different from the chaotic life I've had up until today? Of course, the answer to that question is "yes."
Otherwise, those great people would not have said that.
But how can we achieve that? I believe it starts with learning how to walk.

--- p.82

I am a desk sitter.
This doesn't mean I'm smart, but it does mean I value abstract ideas more than other people.
Like everyone else, my world exists within my small body.
Whether that world is completed or not depends on my physical health.
Only when my body is perfect can I become perfect.

--- p.94

I'm going to start a new religion, and the first tenet of this religion is "Play regularly."
If you run and play for an hour a day, you will become whole, healthy, and live longer.
In this way, practice should become play.
Otherwise, there is nothing to be gained from practicing.
As the media sometimes reports, you can die from practicing.

--- p.120

If I were a university president, I would hire athletes, not academics.
Instead of academic achievement, we will designate grants for athletics.
This is because the standards of education are too tilted towards knowledge.
Now we need to shift our focus to making people realize the importance of sports and play.

--- pp.146-147

A life not lived properly is life's greatest enemy.
When we don't understand ourselves and our various preconceptions, we are at risk.
How can I ever discover the sense of mission that wells up deep within me when I am guided by the prevailing notion in our society that manual labor is inferior?
--- pp.182-183

Every mile I run is always the first mile.
Every hour spent on the road is always a new beginning.
Every day, when I put on my running clothes, I am reborn, seeing the universe as if I were seeing it for the first time, seeing the familiar as unfamiliar, the ordinary as extraordinary.

--- p.193

A runner's goal is not health.
A runner's goal is to develop a body that can perform at its best.
Health is something that comes with the process of cultivating the body.
It is a stop that passes by in the process of drawing out the 20 to 30 percent of one's abilities that have never been displayed before.

--- p.230

Health is a matter of whether the body is functioning properly and at its peak capacity.
My health has a lot to do with my attitude towards life.
What is important is whether the soul and body are in the right condition.
Health is a question of whether you can cultivate yourself as a complete human being.
Even if I have a disease in my body, my health can be at its peak.

--- p.245

Even if it's the last moment, you have to use your head.
Running fast is not enough.
It is not enough to just exhaust all your strength.
You must accelerate, exhausting all your strength at the very moment when it becomes clear that your opponent can no longer react.
If we play it on a long board, it must be the moment when one becomes the only player.

--- p.277

A decision that comes from faith can only be made with the heart.
When we answer the overwhelming question, “Can I do it or can I not?”, we can discover the strength to overcome all that fatigue and, on the other hand, to overcome ourselves.

--- p.305

If we truly seek to find our true selves, it means that we run the risk of failure at every moment.
If you know the extent of your abilities, there is nothing to be ashamed of even if you walk to the finish line.

--- p.319

No marathon is more exciting than the moment you cross the finish line.
The runner faced all kinds of difficulties along the way.
There were a lot of difficult things, but I overcame them in the end.
There can be no such moment of liberation.
By the time the ordeal is over, both the runner and the onlookers cannot help but feel that they have accomplished something great.

--- p.349

When I run the streets, I become a philosopher.
At that moment, I completely forget about people and think only about myself.
I fall into my own mental world.
I look for ways to show the world that the way I live is right.

--- pp.365-366

When I'm feeling down periodically, I realize that life is a game, but no matter how well a person plays, only God can tell the outcome.
It's not the content of the race that matters, it's the runner.
As always, there is a enemy inside me.

--- p.396

I fight with God.
I struggle with the limitations God has given me.
Fighting the pain.
Fight against injustice.
Fight me and all the bad things in this world.
I do not give in.
I will climb this hill.
That too will rise alone.

--- p.409