Today's English

So what has running taught me about perseverance?   Almost everything I know about it, actually.  Grinding out the miles when it has long since ceased to be fun has trained me to plug away and complete things even after the novelty's worn off, which proved invaluable when it came to setting up my hypnotherapy practice.  And also when it came to writing books.  Any would-be writer will tell you of the irresistible appeal of ironing your underwear the moment you're faced with a blank page --- even Robert Louis Stevenson apparently didn't enjoy writing all that much; what he did like, however, was 'having written'.  Running's taught me to keep my eyes lifted upwards and focused on the end result rather than allowing them to drift downwards to see all the hurdles and the often tedious hard graft that stand in the way.  It's taught me to tell my inner monkey to shut up and ship out.  It's also taught me that, just like Mr Humphrys says on Mastermind,  if you've started, you might as well finish.  It's taught me that stubbornness is a virtue, not a vice.  And that all running involves pain.  There's the pain of discipline and there's the pain of regret.  Sticking with the discipline is most definitely the well-paved path to success.  By failing to stick with it, and heeding that wicked winged monkey, you'll experience something far more painful than the pain of pushing on --- the pain of regret.  And we all know that that kind lasts a lifetime.   ( From Your pace or Mine?  by Lisa Jackson  p.81)