Dot to Dot for Life
There are many metaphors for life. I wish mine was the map, that well-planned journey with a clear destination, avoiding steep hills and dark valleys. But my metaphor for life is more like a child’s dot-to-dot puzzle: I can’t see the full picture yet, all I can do is follow a straight line to the next dot.
When I set out to run to beat suicide 8 years ago, I didn’t know how that would pan out. The only instruction I had was to ‘run, and take other with you’. 6 non-runners turned up at the first session, and the following week there were 15. By April that year, 29 people joined me in learning to run. It seemed I had arrived at my first dot.
My right foot is tattooed with ‘Run by faith’ because I can’t yet see the whole picture. What I can do is faithfully follow a straight path to the next dot, the part of the picture that I can see. So, each time I run and bring others with me, I’m really running in faith that we are championing life and beating suicide with every step.
“Recent medical research has discovered that exercise can be more effective than sitting still as a way of calming the brain diffusing stress and stimulating clarity of thought.”
‘Calming the brain’. ‘Diffusing stress’. ‘Clarity of thought’?
If I could make a pill that could do this, I’d be a trillionaire.
Luckily, we have running (which sadly doesn’t pay as much as that magic pill). Running costs nothing, it’s the most natural and accessible form of exercise, it can be done by almost anyone, almost anywhere, with just a little guidance.
I am confident that, by running and bringing people with us, we are championing life and beating suicide. Science continues to confirm and reconfirm that running is good for our mental, physical spiritual and social health. I am confident that by running in a straight line to the next dot, we are running in faith, we are championing life and beating suicide. I don’t need to see the full picture yet – in fact if I did, I’d probably still run, but it would be in the opposite direction. So mine’s a childlike dot-to-dot life of faith. What’s your metaphor for life?
Hear Jacky’s Story this Wednesday 17th July at 11 am:
Jacky Youldon
Jacky started running when she was 35 and went on to run marathons and ultra marathons. At 46 she came second at the 100KM multi event, Race to the Stones, beating 637 men and women. Jacky is also a suicide survivor. She is the founder of RunningSpace, which uses running as the platform to build faith, resilience and relationship, the three protectors against suicide according the World Health Organisation.
