[One Thousand Characters a Day] Ordinary Running <4> - Change Requires Time

Editor's Note"If you want to run fast, run slowly." This is one thing writer Kang Juwon realized while running. There is no need to be frustrated because your speed doesn't increase, nor anxious because results are not visible. You just need to run slowly and steadily without strain. You don't have to scowl and sprint at full speed. You can go joyfully, sometimes enjoying the surrounding scenery, even if a little slowly. Eventually, you will end up going fast. Word count: 875.

I decided to let go of impatience. I decided to think of myself as a child who has just taken their first steps. I lowered the intensity and ran at a comfortable breathing pace. I ran slowly and steadily like that. After a few months, one day, I suddenly looked at my legs. I wondered if my legs were always like this. Muscles that had never been there before had densely formed on my once smooth legs.

Now, whether I run long or fast, it doesn't hurt. The speed I used to run at full sprint has now become a pace where my breathing is comfortable. I went from a body that couldn't run to a body that can run. It just took time. Time for my body to change.

If I had not endured that time and, out of impatience, quit saying, "I'm not someone suited for running," a big part of my life would have been lost. If I had forgotten the obvious fact that humans need time to change, I would still be blaming my body and complaining about poor stamina.

Humans need time to change. The higher the goal, the longer the time needed. But sometimes, it feels like everyone else can do it except me. We often cannot endure that feeling and end up quitting something. But that is a misconception caused by forgetting the fact that time is needed to change. No one changes instantly. Everyone must have endured the long time needed for change. Like them, I just need a little more time to change. But because of impatience, I kept turning my gaze outward and forgot that fact.

Most things are solved by time. No matter how difficult the goal is to reach, if you keep moving forward, you will eventually reach it. But if the thought "Why am I the only one who can't?" keeps lingering in your mind, try repeating this to yourself: "It's not that I'm the only one who can't; I just need a little more time."

- Kang Juwon, <Ordinary Running>, Biroso, 16,800 KRW

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.