Sort of depressing life lesson I learned from running

Sad sack in the back of the pack wrote:

tomas was t o life wrote:

Here's your problem - you are judging yourself on society's scale, by society's metrics, and conflating your own worth and ability with what other people do. They are irrelevant to your running. They don't matter. What lessons do you think you learned from running? The greatest lesson you should've learned is that all that really matters is how much you're able to challenge YOURSELF - push yourself, improve yourself, be better than a previous version of yourself. And within that, on any given day, it is wisdom to recognize you were successful if you did everything you possibly could in that race, in that workout.

I'm impressed with how positive people are being! I thought this site was full of miserable people wasting time at work (like me!).

But I'll push back a little on this first part: society is forcing me to be judged by their scale by asking me to pay their bills and live up to their standards. I guess in that way it is different from running because no one forces you to run at a certain level but I do find a strong internal feeling that if I don't maintain a certain fitness level that I'm "wasting my time" running. Again though, the problem with stuff like work is there is no "opt out" or "run your own pace" option. Living in the Western world you are charged rent, taxes, utilities, and that rent is due regularly, so if you are not earning a certain amount, your life going to collections. Just like running, some just naturally find themselves keeping up but if you don't, you're falling behind at an ever increasing rate.

Sad sack in the back of the pack wrote:

I've always loved running and it's taught me many lessons. But the biggest one I'm starting to realize is actually pretty depressing. Through running, I found that I can work hard, dedicate and apply myself, and do pretty much everything just to be ok. Since I started working, I find this more true than ever! Putting in the hours in the office or getting things done on time/effectively isn't nearly as rewarding as being the boss's kid or playing the corporate politics game to get ahead. Even when trying to focus on "personal improvement," it doesn't do a whole lot when all you've accomplished doesn't amount to much. And if you try to work too hard, you're bound to get injured and fall even further back. Just like working long hours and burning out. I can go on and on with other examples where this has crossed over in my life but the biggest lesson I'm starting to see from my running is that life just isn't fair. But then, now what?