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I saw a beautiful quote the other day on the welcome board outside a shop selling, of all things, running shoes. It proclaimed “One run changes your day; many runs change your life”. It was something that resonated with me because it captured the truth of my experience perfectly.

Many years ago while still at school I struggled to run 2 laps of the playground. It can’t have been more than 300m in total and I was puffed. I was also surprised, because as a teenager I was still discovering what I could and couldn’t do, and I didn’t expect something so simple as doing 2 laps to be one of the things I couldn’t! I set about changing it and made running one of the things that I “could do”.

Weeks and months ticked by and running became part of the daily routine. I left school and the years began slipping into decades. Most days I found the time to go – even if it was just 10 minutes. Lots of different places, towns and cities, beaches and cliffs, forests and urban parks (where I always felt happier with a group!) and even indoor treadmills!

Then that day walking passed the shoe shop I realized that running was something that hadn’t just changed lots of days; it was something that had changed my life. Running had kept off the worst of weight gain that many friends were experiencing; it had saved me from pre-diabetes that relatives were enduring; it had kept me mentally positive for many years through all sorts of things; it had taken me to beautiful places I would have NEVER seen otherwise and given me so much enjoyment. Running had had so many positive benefits that I could safely say it had changed my life. Things would have been very different without it.

While I know running isn’t for everyone I think the same principle applies to other positive activities, like walking or swimming or yoga, that you might incorporate into your day. Little by little it will change your life. So remember do it once and it changes the day. Do it regularly and it changes your life!

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Posted by mom176887, 28th April 2016