Category: Well-being

Excuse the click-bait-ey title, but I thought it was funny. Anyways, on really hot days, I’ll take off my shirt when I go running. Mariko says that the “naked” running is never done in Japan. In fact, you might get the police called on you! But here in the States, or at least in Texas, men run shirtless a lot. (We now jokingly refer to it as “American-style” and to her, shirtless is “naked”, while to me “naked” means no clothes at all 😆)

For the longest time, I was too self-conscious to take my shirt off even though I wanted to get some sun. First, I have a farmer’s tan, and second, I am not skinny. My mind was in a bit of a conundrum: if I was skinny, I wouldn’t worry about the farmer’s tan. And If I was tan, then I wouldn’t worry about not being skinny. So I was stuck. I don’t want to look silly and have people laugh at me.

But now I am older, and simply don’t give a f*$k what others think. And honestly, most people don’t even care. And even if they do, that doesn’t concern me. I don’t even know these people, and they don’t know me. So off comes the shirt, and after a few runs, my farmer’s tan is well on its way out. I still have my love-handles but whatever. Maybe someday they’ll be gone, but it doesn’t really matter any more.

All that being said, I don’t run shirtless all the time. The sun is just too strong and I gotta protect my health. But just having that option is liberating.

I love running so much. It’s really my time to refocus my mind, listen to my body, listen to music, and perhaps practice some gratitude. I don’t ever want to give that up.

Also, I like to look at things when I go running. For instance, this puddle leftover from the morning rain reminds me of Maui. 😊

I hope you had a great day! またね〜