Monday, May 15, 2017

May 15, 2017 - For Nicola and Amanda!

Today's run was sponsored by Nicola and Amanda! Thanks so much for continuing to help fund the Ty Taylor Memorial Campship Endowment. We're getting so close to fully funding the endowment, I appreciate your help! Soon, YMCA Camp Miller will be able to send a deserving camper to camp for free every year in honor of an amazing man.

Running is many different things to many people. For some, it's about the workout. For others, it's about the social aspect of running with friends. Others run to explore, to meditate, to reach a goal, to grieve, to raise money... If you've read my blog, you know that I run for all of these reasons.

But when I left the house on Monday morning, it was with the sole intent of taking some time to think. I had a potentially difficult meeting coming up, and I needed to think carefully about how I was going to proceed. My legs went on autopilot as I began the Statues 3 Miler route. You can read about other runs on this route herehere, here, and here. My thoughts centered primarily around how the ability to change my perspective and take a fresh look at the path forward might help me. What were my objectives? How might I present that information? I went through several scenarios and soon arrived at the Salt March Statue. Wikipedia gives a good quick look at the Salt March, or Dandi March, but basically it's the story of how Gandhi initiated the literal march as an act of civil disobedience, and began the figurative march to Indian Independence. You can read more about the Gyarah Murti statue on the so.Delhi blog and take a look at a video here.

Typically, upon passing this statue (which happens frequently when I go running), I acknowledge Gandhi-ji with a wave, or a hand on my heart. On this day, I did something different. I stopped. I walked around to the back side for a fresh look. I took a break at the statue and thought about how he may have approached his tough decisions.


The moment was poignant, as I considered this leader, who set out on a journey to the sea to prove his point.


But I also considered the followers. Without their support, the trip wouldn't have made the same impact. His point would surely not have been heard by the British. It was their support which was needed. Gandhi had big ideas and passion and cared about independence, but he thought carefully about how to deliver the messages of his people. People who were widely varied as illustrated in Choudhary's sculpture.


In the end, the Mahatma succeeded in changing minds and inspiring hearts. Renewed in the belief that my meeting was going to go well because I was aided by talented collaborators and representing good people, I continued my run and came across the Teen Murti statue.


The three statues (Teen Murti literally means 3 statues) are arranged in an equilateral triangle. Acknowledging the ironic fact that I wouldn't be allowed to pause and reframe this statue from a new angle since they are all the same, I grinned at the universe and finished my run.

I'm choosing to thank Nicola and Amanda for this run, because they are both involved with me in different groups at school. I've been grateful to share their thinking and I'm appreciative of their desire to help me fund the Campship. As I prepare to leave AES, I'm so thankful for the opportunities I've had to be part of important work. And as I prepare to enter a new school, I'm thinking about what opportunities for sharing thinking I'll have. Which ideas will become important? Will I have a chance to be a leader? Or perhaps, most importantly, how can I be an enthusiastic and supportive follower?

RUN STATS:
Distance - 5.15 miles
Time - 46:27
Temp at 6:30am, 87°F




1 comment:

  1. Thank you, Jason. I have enjoyed working and socialising with you this year and sharing a whole lot of thinking together in a whole lot of contexts. Wish I could have made it in from Gurgaon to join you on some of those runs. Will be looking forward to some new posts from Ghana once you settle in...

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