Why Running Outdoors During the Lockdown is Life's Greatest Panacea.

oing into March 2020, my already precarious existence was about to take a turn for the worse- a job loss and the plans that had been carefully made- in the aftermath of this life-changing setback- which involved travelling and the purchase of merchandise to commence a new business, were all blown to smithereens.

Why I hear you ask?

The lockdown. As the numbers of people who contracted the dreaded virus began to rise exponentially, the government of the day, had no choice but to announce a total shutdown. This meant that my life as I knew it, had ground to a complete halt.

No earnings, no travel, no gym, no new business and above all else, no life.

Given that staring into the abyss is perhaps one of my favorite pastimes, it seemed that I would have all the time in the world to engage in this great activity and apply Kazimierz Dabrowski's auto psychotherapy afterwards.

This was until I began running outdoors; to put this into proper context, In all my 42 years on earth, not once did I ever consider running around my North West London neighborhood. And yet, once I started running around my local vicinity, the rewards were instant and my life took a radical turn.

The following improvements stood out for me:

1.Mental Equilibrium: An all-pervasive sense of calm registered itself into my affairs. Out was the usual angst and anxiety, from an unexpected email, phone call or even a live football match and in, was equanimity and an attitude of gratitude.

2.Greater Focus: Aided with a nice cup of coffee, pre and post work out, the ease with which I settled into my daily tasks was striking. I have always been a voracious reader my entire life.

My renewed focus and drive meant that, as soon as the lockdown was eased on the 4th of July 2020, I spent the entire day at Waterstones in Piccadilly, reading nearly every title in the finance section. Other days I am at Foyles at Tottenham court road, going through hundreds of titles. Books have contributed to my sense of being for as long as I have been alive(my writing might not necessarily reflect this), but running outdoors have taken my concentration levels too much higher than before.

3.Endless, Boundless Joie de Vivre: For those who do not speak French, joie de vivre literally means, the joy of life, energy. The smell of the morning dew, running through the Roe Green and Fryent Way parks, in North West London at five in the morning is/was simply intoxicating. I simply wanted more and more, I felt like a five-year-old, without a care in the world.

A late-summer run distance coverage picture from the author.4.Memory Enhancement: I am very fortunate to have a decent memory. Something quite close to what's been described as HSAM (highly superior autobiographical memory). This has become further enhanced with my new found hobby. I began re-reading vast numbers of books in my personal library and guess what? I am a man reborn.

5.Higher Libido: This is quite self-explanatory!

6. Profound Appreciation of The Beauty of London: From the serenity of Hampstead Heath (320 hectares of open space in Greater London)through to the Golders Hill Park or from Kingsbury's Roe Green Park to Fryent way, my neighborhood mesmerized me with its breathtaking beauty and tranquillity. A place that I called home for a huge chunk of my life, showed a side that I hadn't hitherto seen or appreciated. For that alone, I am profoundly grateful.

In Conclusion

Perhaps, out of hubris or cultural hang-ups, I have never been to any therapist or prescribed and taken anti-depressants of any sort, my entire life. Yet, making the all-important decision to run outdoors was revolutionary. I have always been keen on going to the gym, but being in an enclosed space competing with other testosterone-fueled blokes on who could lift the heaviest weights was never going to provide the much-needed answers to life's pressing questions.

And yet, all it took for me was to hit the road and my world became an infinitely better and fairer place.

Running outdoors, is without question, for me, life's greatest panacea. I recommend to everyone.

Thanks very much for reading.