Last week, I ran my first marathon—one of the toughest things I’ve ever done.

But that’s expected…

What really surprised me wasn’t the race itself.

You’d think crossing the finish line after 42 gruelling kilometres would be the hardest part.

And it was…

Until I discovered the real challenge that began long after the run was over…

So what happened post-run?

Fatigue?

Stiffness?

Injury?

Nope.

It was weird.

Even after running all that way, my body was completely fine…

But my mind wasn’t.

I'm sure at some point in your life, you've experienced a real high from something..

• Achieving one of your goals

• Finishing something you’ve been working towards for a while

• Having a great time somewhere (holiday, festival, etc)

For a short period - it feels great.

But the feeling never lasts for long.

Quite often the feelings of joy, relief and elation are replaced with feeling directionless and unmotivated.

Sound familiar?

This is exactly what I experienced.

For the next few days, I felt very depressed.

I didn’t want to do anything apart from sit in bed and watch YouTube.

(and tbh, that’s what I did).

After reflecting on the experience, there’s one important lesson I’ve learned:

What was weird about this experience is that the marathon (you would think) would be inherently good for you.

It kind of sucked to do something like that and feel like I was on a fat comedown afterwards.

But that’s just the nature of the brain.

It doesn’t care how you feel.

But it just goes to show that there are certain rules the brain follows by:

It doesn’t matter what causes the spike- what goes up must come down.

The amount it goes above baseline, it must go proportionately below baseline immediately after.

In a world filled with instant high dopamine rewards, it’s even more important to be aware how the brain responds to these kinds of stimulus.

See it as taking out a loan.

The amount of the loan must be paid back in full, no exceptions.

This isn’t about avoiding dopamine spikes and never enjoying anything.

But more understanding that when you are feeling low, it is often explainable and preventable:

When I’m feeling like shit,

I can always trace it back to previous choices i’ve made.

Same goes for when I’m feeling good.

Remember that dopamine is extremely powerful.

It is responsible for motivation, pleasure, mood. memory, sleep, learning, concentration and movement.

Overstimulating these receptors has a serious impact on al our lives, so it is especially important to manage what we use them for.

Don’t forget to have a good time as well though…

Cheers for reading

That’s no. 20!

If you’ve missed any, You can check out all the articles here:

Apologies if this seem a bit rushed. I lost my draft so this is my second time writing this.

Peace x

H

MMM V1.19