I was a distance runner for 19 years, before a brutal case of plantar fasciitis dashed my Olympics dream forever. I’m kidding about that last part. My running group (motto: ‘No pace too slow, no course too short!’) had a useful running rule. The first ten minutes of every training run were devoted to whining.
“My quads hurt. I’m so tired. I think I’m getting a blister.”
But at precisely the ten minute mark, the rule was: no more whining. Let’s face it, my heart sisters: nobody is that interested.
Upon ruminating on the wisdom of Dr. Martin Seligman‘s book Learned Optimism that I’ve been enjoying lately (see Even Heart Patients Can Learn to be Optimists), I can’t help but notice a proliferation of gloom, doom, pessimism, criticism, complaining, blaming and a whack of running negative commentary around lately. And other people besides me are grumpy, too . . . Continue reading “Get over yourself: how to stop boring others with your heart attack story”