Eavesdropping and running

I do a lot of travelling on the train - commuting to work & back and also, travelling to town and out west to see my parents and family. Relying on mass transportation means you end up sharing space with a lot of other commuters. Most of the time I just sleep or daydream but on the rare occasion, my ears perk up when they pick up debates of the political or philosophical nature.

The other night coming home from Friday night drinks, I heard these early 20-somethings students I think, talking about global warming and opposition to immigration to Australia. Anyway, I felt a bit guilty eavesdropping :-) but I was feeling slighty queasy and needed something to distract me. One of the girls was questioning the implications that will happen with Australia's ageing population and the detrimental economic effects of that. Long story short, her friends were telling her Australians should pop out more kids to offset the demographics shift but an increase in immigration is not another viable option. She then said something I totally agree with "But why not? We're a first world country that can take more migrants in... I feel Australian but I also feel like a global citizen and these issues should be solved on a global platform". You go girl!

That completely resonated with me. I know I'm Australian but I think I feel more connected with the rest of the world as well. When I think of politics and issues, I think of them on a global scale. I don't believe in jingoism and other nationalistic pride crap such as only buy Australian products etc.

Anyway, now moving on to running. I've become addicted to running. When I first set foot on a treadmill, I could barely run a minute without sweating like a pig and having a coronary. I was one of those people who had no idea why anyone would put themself through the pain, sweat and tears. But I've persisted with it to improve my blood pressure and now I love it so much! I ran 50mins straight the other day - that's my PB.

Running is addictive for me because the monotony and solitude appeals to me. Sometimes I daydream, other times I'm just singing along to my MP3 player but whatever is happening in my head, I feel completely relaxed. Then after the run, you get that runner's high and ravenous appetite of that of Survivor contestant. It's awesome! I'm training for a 10km run. Wish me luck! :-)