Today’s inspiration is courtesy of a 100 year-old who courageously defied odds to complete the Toronto Marathon this past weekend, as reported here on CBC Sports.
Sunday’s run was Fauja Singh’s eighth marathon — he ran his first at the tender age of 89 — and wasn’t the first time he set a record. In the 2003 Toronto event, he set the mark in the 90-plus category, finishing the race in five hours 40 minutes and one second. And on Thursday in Toronto, Fauja Singh — whose first name means soldier — broke world records for runners older than 100 in eight different distances ranging from 100 metres to 5,000 metres.
The tender age of 89! Singh used a tragic loss to fuel his motivation to begin running about twenty years ago as an octogenarian. Singh’s goals are lofty for anyone, much less someone who has lived through a time which produced revolutionizing inventions that today we often take for granted such as the micro chip, mobile phones, seat belts, and the ball point pen.
Whether or not Singh knows about Integral Life Practice, I imagine he must have some kind of powerful personal practices to maintain his health and support his vision. Additionally, without his community of supporters, would he have made it across the line? For me, setting my goals and being transparent about them in relationship/community is very important to sustaining practices that I believe may lead to progress.
We don’t all have set world records or run marathons to achieve something remarkable, and those with a more holistic consciousness realize that their remarkable accomplishment may be a marathon that is achieved future generations down the road, well after we are all long gone. Maybe our future achievements will be shaped by the simple decisions we make today, such as when Singh decided to start running.
Karilen Mays 