I don't know what I am doing to have earned the amount of energy I currently have, maybe it is the fresh squeezed kiwi juice, sushi, and yogurt that I eat daily? Or just dumb luck?
I ended up going to the fitness park yesterday evening, doing 5 or 6 sets of exercises, then a walk around the grounds. The sun was setting behind the mountains when I decided to take a seat at the fountain and admire the view. I felt so strong and vital, I could not help but to be happy and content. I watched the soft blue sky and the pink clouds grow dimmer as people played badminton, runners chugged along, 2 toy dogs ran past, one with a leg in a cast?!, I started to laugh and the owner was laughing too at the sight of the dog with the outstretched, stiff leg trying to keep up with his playmate.
Along with the sense of physical well being, I felt completely at ease in my surroundings, had no desire to be anywhere else but the fitness park in Chiang Mai at dusk. I can recall only a handful of times in my life when everything has fallen into such an order that it fits my description of harmony and bliss. It has not as much to do with the external, what is more important is how I am perceiving and processing all of the sensory data which is streaming into me. If I think back to those few times of bliss the one thing in common is the extreme sense of freedom which I imagine myself to be in possession of - a freedom which does not hinge upon what is happening out in the world, but rather inside of my brain. This inner harmony is rare and fleeting, but for it to be even possible is somewhat of a miracle, and I consider myself lucky to have experienced it a few times.
This morning I got up at dawn and walked to the fitness park and did 10-12 sets of exercises, walked a bit around the grounds, then stopped at Domino Cafe for breakfast, which was a bit of a let down because the hash browns were those nasty McDonald's style crap - the frozen, flat, rectangular potatoes submerged in a half gallon of hot cooking oil. I took one bite and decided not to eat any more of it. At least the eggs and the pancakes were decent. When I approached the counter to pay the owner immediately commented on the hash browns, were they not good? What was wrong with them? I was not expecting this type of reaction, but I tried to answer as best I could, saying that there are different types of hash browns, that I like the fresh cubed potatoes fried lightly in pan oil, and that the type on my plate gave me stomach problems (an exaggeration). She then asked if I wanted to take them home in a bag, I laughed to myself as I told her I did not need to take it home with me.
Later in the morning I began to feel another wave of energy, and after coming home from Tops with some food and drink, I decided to go to the fitness park and do a run in the noon time heat. It would be my first back to back run since I began training two months ago. My legs felt a bit fatigued when I started, but everything else was fine, and the heat did not bother me too much. When I arrived at the park I noticed the sprinklers were not turned on, and I knew I was going to have to take it slow and steady to last more than 15 minutes. I poured some water from my bottle over my head and began doing loops. Surprisingly I was not in too much need of the cold water from the sprinklers, I loped along with determination and felt pretty good despite how much exercise I have been doing this week. I checked the stop watch when I finished and had lasted 46 minutes. I dumped the last of my water over my head after taking a swig, and began to walk around the grounds. Two sprinklers in the garden area turned on just then and it felt so good to be drenched in cold water - I had the sensation of being tickled and could not stop laughing - I was so happy! After a 10 minute walk I did 5 sets of exercises and then walked home, looking forward to a meal of fresh squeezed kiwi juice, sushi, and yogurt.
