It’s very uncommon to see people running topless in Dublin city.
I love running and love it 10x more when topless. Perhaps it’s the feeling of sun on your skin or just the general sense of freedom associated with it.
However I had always denied myself the joys of topless running in Ireland due to fear of what others would think. Instead I only ran topless when on holidays.
Deciding to go for it
One beautiful summer’s day in 2018, I finally decided to take my shirt off mid-run.
Since then, I’ve continued running topless for 8 months of the year (March – Oct) and because I enjoy it so much – I’ve run more frequently than ever before, stayed in much better physical shape and have had much more energy in general.
I also gained a few life lessons from the experience so far. These lessons include:
There will never be a perfect moment
A few friends have mentioned that they would also like to run topless in Dublin.
For different reasons, they haven’t started yet. Such reasons include that they’re:
– waiting until they’re happier with their body
– waiting until the weather is sunnier and warmer
– waiting until there are not as many people on the streets
The perfect moment will never come. Accept imperfection, get started and strive instead to continually improve.
Putting yourself up for public scrutiny makes you up your game
You have much more motivation to stay in good shape knowing that hundreds of people will see you topless each day.
Businesses are advised to launch early and avoid waiting years to do so while creating the “perfect” product in secret. If they launch early, customer feedback and iteration will help them realise their vision much quicker.
People will have differing opinions
People will have differing opinions about everything.
In the case of running topless along the canal:
– some will shout supportive statements from their cars or give you a thumbs up. Much appreciated! 🙂
– others will shout negative or hateful things. These people never seem terribly happy with themselves anyway
– the majority of people are too busy with their own hectic lives to even notice
As long as you want to do something and it doesn’t harm anyone else, then I reckon you should just do it knowing that you can’t please everyone.
Create your own normal
Running topless has now become my new normal. It’s not even a thought in my mind when leaving the house.
If you’re able to power through the discomfort of doing that thing it is you want to do the first time, quickly it will become your new normal.
Try to make your version of normal as enjoyable and suited to you as possible.
It’s worth thinking about the reasons why you’re doing what you’re doing – or why you’re not doing something.
Have a think about whether those reasons are to do with your own preferences or the fear of what others will think.
Thank you for reading as always 🙂
