ran 4.7 miles
The past couple weeks have been daunting, running in this heat and humidity. My weekly running averages have been dropping as July and August have become more and more smothering. If you have never visited Louisiana, particularly the southern part of the state, the heat and humidity August blankets us with is nearly intolerable. I’m not trying to take anything away from the heat waves that have recently covered so many American states, and set so much of Texas on fire, but when the mercury hits 105 degrees in a state like Oklahoma, that is nothing compared to 95 degrees in south Louisiana. The humidity is so thick it beads up on you before you even start sweating. I have lived in Oklahoma and felt the state’s dry 100-plus degrees and it is far more tolerable than the sweltering humidity we have here at lesser temperatures. The heat indices here are off the chart.
But that’s neither here nor there. I don’t post about personal stuff too often and I thought I would rant about how unbearably hot and humid it is here. I guess what I am getting at is this: I have been physically incapable of running at the pace and distance I am used to for the other 10 or 11 months of the year. But I anticipated a lull in my running average for the summer and created a surplus of miles during the rest of the year. I have managed to stave off large losses in my running average by planning ahead, but my average has slowly been declining. By investing in a slow, patient surplus of miles ahead of time and running within my means I have created an opportunity to redistribute distances from my miles bank to keep myself afloat during these hard times. I invested in my own future and planned for any shortcomings, which may or may not have occurred in the near future of my miles balance. Unfortunately, a deficit has occurred; however, by anticipating it I have prevented panic and chaos. I did it by myself and I would never, never ask any other man or woman to give me some of their miles so that I may stay afloat with my own goal.
Redistributing miles, or money, from one party who worked so hard for what they have, to another is fundamentally wrong, petty, and something to be ashamed of. But so many in this country don't seem to find virtue in their own self-sufficiency.
If I fail to achieve my goal, any goal, I would never ask another to give me some of what they worked so hard to achieve so that I could falsely feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. If I fail at something I take stock of what lessons I learned in my journey and I find a better way to do it, or I move on to another goal.
I’m sort of trying to express through rambling about these miles I’m running how fundamentally I differ from everything Barack Obama stands for. When he says some of us are only lucky and we need to share, when he puts a cap on how much money I can earn before it is no longer worth it because it all goes to the federal government, when he mandates government health care and forces me to pay for others when I can hardly pay for myself, but I’m out there trying while so many others are not, so many others are watching day-time television all day and going to the emergency room twice a month just because they can---I fundamentally disagree with this guy. I want nothing more than for him to simply leave us alone and I don’t want any other person’s money unless I earn it.
1,046.0 miles to go.
The past couple weeks have been daunting, running in this heat and humidity. My weekly running averages have been dropping as July and August have become more and more smothering. If you have never visited Louisiana, particularly the southern part of the state, the heat and humidity August blankets us with is nearly intolerable. I’m not trying to take anything away from the heat waves that have recently covered so many American states, and set so much of Texas on fire, but when the mercury hits 105 degrees in a state like Oklahoma, that is nothing compared to 95 degrees in south Louisiana. The humidity is so thick it beads up on you before you even start sweating. I have lived in Oklahoma and felt the state’s dry 100-plus degrees and it is far more tolerable than the sweltering humidity we have here at lesser temperatures. The heat indices here are off the chart.
But that’s neither here nor there. I don’t post about personal stuff too often and I thought I would rant about how unbearably hot and humid it is here. I guess what I am getting at is this: I have been physically incapable of running at the pace and distance I am used to for the other 10 or 11 months of the year. But I anticipated a lull in my running average for the summer and created a surplus of miles during the rest of the year. I have managed to stave off large losses in my running average by planning ahead, but my average has slowly been declining. By investing in a slow, patient surplus of miles ahead of time and running within my means I have created an opportunity to redistribute distances from my miles bank to keep myself afloat during these hard times. I invested in my own future and planned for any shortcomings, which may or may not have occurred in the near future of my miles balance. Unfortunately, a deficit has occurred; however, by anticipating it I have prevented panic and chaos. I did it by myself and I would never, never ask any other man or woman to give me some of their miles so that I may stay afloat with my own goal.
Redistributing miles, or money, from one party who worked so hard for what they have, to another is fundamentally wrong, petty, and something to be ashamed of. But so many in this country don't seem to find virtue in their own self-sufficiency.
If I fail to achieve my goal, any goal, I would never ask another to give me some of what they worked so hard to achieve so that I could falsely feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. If I fail at something I take stock of what lessons I learned in my journey and I find a better way to do it, or I move on to another goal.
I’m sort of trying to express through rambling about these miles I’m running how fundamentally I differ from everything Barack Obama stands for. When he says some of us are only lucky and we need to share, when he puts a cap on how much money I can earn before it is no longer worth it because it all goes to the federal government, when he mandates government health care and forces me to pay for others when I can hardly pay for myself, but I’m out there trying while so many others are not, so many others are watching day-time television all day and going to the emergency room twice a month just because they can---I fundamentally disagree with this guy. I want nothing more than for him to simply leave us alone and I don’t want any other person’s money unless I earn it.
1,046.0 miles to go.
Money and corruption go hand in hand. Just the other day I saw someone use government aid to buy $75 worth of doritos, twix candy, fruit punch, hot dogs, etc. I thought to myself, this is not what a safety net is supposed to be. The person looked to be on the verge of onset diabetes; so you know added health care costs are coming. Then I thought, where does that $75 dollars go after it hits the register? PepsiCo? Mars Inc.? I'd like to say, let's just end all of this free money, but how many people would start starving and living in card board boxes? And one more thing... some of us are far more self sufficient than others but none of us are completely self sufficient. My parents paid for my private education while most others were paid by the state. When I got to college I went to a state university when others paid for a private university.
ReplyDeleteJ
There are a lot of ugly truths out there, not only in America but especially in underdeveloped countries. Card board box roofs are an ugly reality in America and I think Hoovervilles will always exist regardless of how good or bad things are, but for a government to give people who lack all ambition money they did nothing to earn is like giving an alcoholic a monthly prescription of Vodka. Obama gives his people bread and circus like ancient Rome. Enough sustenance to keep them full and content and enough entertainment to distract them from the crucial realities before them.
ReplyDelete"Poverty among blacks was 55 percent in 1959 and 41 percent in 1966. By 2009, the rate had fallen to 25.9 percent. For black single moms without a father present, the poverty rate fell from 70.6 percent in 1959 and 65.3 in 1966 to 39.8 percent in 2009."
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/jul/29/bill-oreilly/bill-oreilly-says-poverty-hasnt-budged-1965-despit/
J