Becoming a Storyteller

by Chris Compson, Endangered Endurance Running Co. owner/coach

In his wonderful memoir, Shoe Dog, Phil Knight tells the hilarious tale of his first “business” trip to Japan. The great humor and irony of this particular trip was that despite proclamations in the high-pressure setting of a Japanese board room, at the time, Phil Knight did not have a “business.” Nike, and its predecessor Blue Ribbon Sports, was little more than a figment of Phil Knight’s imagination. Yet, Knight was making promises, conducting business, and signing purchase orders as if he were the multi-billion dollar CEO he would later become. As the saying goes, “fortune favors the bold.”

Running, Happiness and Resisting the Abyss

Running, Happiness and Resisting the Abyss

Scan The New York Times nonfiction bestsellers list any given week and you’ll find at least a half-dozen books designed to help us live a happier, better, more fulfilled life. In fact, annual estimates of the “self-help” industry’s profits range from $9 - $15 billion dollars, and the trend is precipitously upward. Despite the vast resources we pour into improving ourselves, all the data suggests we continue to grow more and more dissatisfied with ourselves, our lives, and our world. (Happy way to start this spring morning, right?)

Running is certainly no panacea for this personal and social pull into the abyss, but those of us who run can attest to its power to resist that gravity. But why? Why is running so uniquely equipped to provide a counterbalance to discontent?