I went for a run this morning. I usually go for a gentle speed which keeps my heart pounding while allowing me to go long-distance. This is my usual form of exercise and it has worked well for me thus far (as far as I am aware, nothing wrong with my body). This morning, however, there was a slight difference. For some reason, there was young jogger running in my neighbourhood. Where I live is usually quite tranquil which makes it ideal for peaceful living and I do not usually see other joggers around the place. On this occasion, however, this jogger somewhat disrupted my usual exercise routine, not that I mind other people running or doing whatever it is that they are doing around me but because this kid was running pretty fast, and my natural instinct, even though I was not trying to be competitive, was to keep up and overtake. It was a totally natural reaction, which I guess is part of our sensory experience and interaction with our environment, and in the presence of someone jogging fast(ish), my body automatically wanted to catch up with him. As a result, my running session this morning was quite a bit more tiring than usual, since this time I was engaging with a young jogger whose speed set the benchmark for me to meet (I must re-iterate that I was not trying to compete with him but was naturally impelled to stay level), but I guess that it is also good exercise, given how much more physically demanding it was. I mentioned before that the best form of personal growth comes from our reaction to adverse environments and it is only in desperate situations that we are compelled to pull ourselves together and make progress. This morning was one such episode for me. Great to keep the cardio-vascular muscles flexing.