Limits
A few weeks back I heard of this story from the radio of an ultra-marathon runner who wanted to do 50 marathons in 50 days (or somewhere around that number, just couldn’t remember), he will eat and drink on the run, sleep only a few hours a day and take short bathroom breaks, then run again. When asked why he was doing this, he replied "I want to know the limits of the human body’s endurance." The DJ, "The Flying Dutchman", as they call him here, said "this guy is crazy … nuts." This ultra-marathon runner sounded suicidal. But I was interested. I wanted to know the limits of my endurance. But in another way. For a few weeks, I have deprived myself of sleep, taking naps just before daybreak, and then back to work. In the mornings, I go to the office, then when I get home I work on another project. 3 weeks have passed and the "night/home" project was completed. So what did I learn from this you may ask. A few things. 1) When I told friends about what I was doing, that I wanted to know my limits, to know when my body will burn out/give in, I was called "crazy", and "nuts", 2) I can survive without sleep, and I felt that if I had to go further than three weeks, I would have continued doing it, 3) what gave me focus was a goal, I had to finish the project, it is something that I like to do and I would be proud of, 4) what empowered me was inspiration. Inspiration can drive a person beyond his limits. Inspiration can produce endurance. Inspiration can bring out the best in us. But there was another limit that I had to test during the last few weeks. I had to find out how long I can contain an emotion, which was building up, fueled by my own inspiration. And it’s been four weeks now, project’s over, no more sleepless nights. But the emotion is still there. I don’t know how long this limit test will go on. But I guess I’ll let it linger. I believe its the only option I have, to just keep it. No problem. I think its the best thing to do.
But I will let it drive me. To fuel me, to learn about my limits.
