A good friend messaged me this week with an interesting quote:
“The happiest people don’t have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.”
I have travelled to many beautiful parts of the world and had many adventures with this friend; the first excerpts that come to mind include a boozy pedalo trip up the Prague river, waking up in an underwater tent at an eastern European music festival, and exploring the intricate markets of Istanbul.
I wondered for a while if what he was saying had any weight to it and how it might relate to our expeditions from summers past.
Was this quote a mindless copy and paste from his new iPhone app?
Probably.
But I was eager to find a deeper meaning, and so it nested in the back of my mind.
I got up on Sunday morning to find that my housemate had borrowed my car and I suddenly found myself eager to go running. I get like this sometimes, and experience tunnel vision for just grabbing my trainers and going.
I decided to stray from my usual route of the beautiful Cornish coast and head inland, just to test that my stubborn running habits were paying off, and that I was in fact running the nicest route in my area.
How wrong I was.
I ascended up through a nearby town and an overgrown wooded stream to a reservoir that I didn’t know existed. The scene literally stopped me in my tracks, and I struggled to believe that such a striking landscape existed so close to my front door.
It was half way around these idyllic lands that I realised what my friend was talking about. He and I have experienced many amazing faraway lands and yet all we really need [and want] is right here.
Yes, visiting the incredible thermal spas of Hungary was great and trips like those of yesteryear provide a wealth of excitement and exhilaration – but you can’t do that every day.
My Sunday morning run made me feel that I had truly made the best of what I had.
And, in fact, this was just as fulfilling as an inter-railing trip around Europe!
To keep up with my running progress, check out my Strava profile.