A Lesson From The Hawk

Recently, while running on the back roads near my home I spied a red tailed hawk which landed in a tree about 1/10 of a mile ahead of me. I've always been fascinated by birds of prey so I kept my eyes on the hawk as I got closer, hoping that I could get a better look at it. 

When I was about 50 yards shy of the hawk it spread its wings and took flight. However, just as it did so a crow flying nearby immediately flew up beside the hawk and began to squawk and pester it.  The crow was very aggressive and would not let up.

The hawk, of course, is a very powerful bird and could do a lot of damage to the crow if it chose to. However, the hawk chose to simply ignore the crow and continue on its way. Not only did it continue on its way, it also chose to fly at a higher altitude. The crow continued to pester the hawk for about another minute, but then gave up.

I've seen this happen on more than one occasion. In fact, only a few days later I once again saw a red tailed hawk being pestered. This time however, the hawk was being pestered by close to a dozen crows. Despite being outnumbered I’m sure that the hawk could have easily handled the crows. However, like the one I had previously seen, the hawk chose to continue on its journey and deal with the crows by simply flying faster and higher. It was as if the hawk had better things to do and felt that dealing with the crows wasn't worth the energy expenditure required to fight them off. So it ignored them and continued onward, staying focused on more important things.

Why a crow would harass a powerful bird of prey like the hawk is beyond me. I’m sure an ecologist could explain the reasoning behind such actions.  However, since running often promotes deep thinking it occurred to me that the hawk was setting a great example on how we should live life.

Often in life when trying to improve one's self; whether it be trying to lose weight, overcome challenges, make lifestyle changes, run a marathon, get a better job, start a business, or  some other action that promotes a higher quality of living(taking flight if you will);  it is not uncommon to encounter naysayers.  People will say things such as; “you can't do it”, “it will never happen”, “ it’s a waste of time”.  Statements such as these can take away your focus, filling you with negativity and doubt.  

At times like these, it's important to take a lesson from the hawk. Those negative statements are just like squawks coming from crows. They’re just noise which should be ignored. Letting every negative comment get to you impedes your progress.  Like the hawk, your energy is better spent on staying focused on where you are going and achieving your goal. 

While it’s of course always important to listen to feedback from people whose opinions you value, you want to ignore the squawking from all the others.  Don’t let the squawks from the crows cause you to live in mediocrity. Be a hawk; stay focused, rise higher, and pursue your dreams.

If Everyone Ran

On a recent morning I awoke feeling some stress. My mind was filled with all of my duties for the day and it seemed like I had too much to do and not enough time. I knew I had to take action, so I went for a run. Exercise was on my to-do list so I thought this would be a great way to start the day.  Plus, I needed to sharpen my axe.

I recently heard a story about two lumberjacks. They were out chopping down trees. One said, "I'm going to take a break and go sharpen my axe." The other said, "I don't have time to do that. I've got too much work to do." He kept chopping and chopping. The first man went and sharpened his axe. He came back three hours later and chopped down twice as many trees as the man with the dull axe, and he did it in half the time.

Running to me is like sharpening my axe. My mind is sharper, my thoughts are clearer, and I can concentrate better, resulting in a more productive day. Additionally it lowers stress.

The level of cortisol, our stress hormone, is highest in the morning to help with the sleep/wake cycle. So it makes sense that morning could be a time of elevated stress. Cortisol also is part of the body’s natural fight or flight response. Running (actually exercise as whole) simulates the action of fighting or fleeing, which lowers cortisol levels.  When cortisol is lowered, so is stress. So I embarked on my run. With each foot strike I felt the stress dissipate and an empowering “bring it on” attitude appear.

I spied another runner coming toward me, as she passed we exchanged hellos. It occurred to me I rarely meet an angry runner.  I remembered an experience I had at this year’s Boston Marathon pre- race expo. I was at one of the exhibition booths checking out some of the latest gear when another runner, a woman from Wisconsin, struck up a conversation with me. She told me how she flew in from Milwaukee and the plane she was on was full of runners. The stewardess had commented to her how she had never been on a flight with people as pleasant as on this one.

I proceeded to think about how perhaps the world would be a better place if everyone ran. Politicians and world leaders should literally have to “run” for office. Besides being a certain age they also need to have logged a certain number of miles to be an eligible candidate.  Maybe congress would accomplish more if they debated issues while running. World leaders could solve disputes by racing a 10k. Maybe there would be fewer disputes among people and countries if everyone ran.  After all, running tends to make you see the world without fear or anger and builds confidence.

A quote from ultra-marathoner and best-selling author Dean Karnazes came to my mind; “There are so many things in life that divide us, that separate us and tear us apart, be it race, religion, creed, socioeconomic level, nationality or any variety of other factors. But running is something that we all share in common. Regardless of any of these divisive factors, we all run in the same way. It is a commonality we humans share in a world that emphasizes our differences.”

On that thought I finished my run with the classic runner’s high, a possible plan to solve the world’s problems, and I was ready to take on my day.