Poison Free Running - On a personal note
Today Willpower is launching its latest collection entitled POISON FREE RUNNING. For me this is the sum of all the good decisions I made in my life, which is why this collection means quite a lot to me. Let me explain this in a very open and personal way.
When I decided to claim the Straight Edge in 1995 I was only 16 years old, but I already had an impressive personal history of alcohol abuse. At that time it appeared to be the only way to escape from the boredom of my hometown, but even more from myself, who I wasn’t at peace with at all. In those days, I didn’t know how much impact it would have on my life to quit drinking (and not to start using any other drugs, for that matter) and to set out for a more conscious lifestyle.
Through the socialization within the hardcore scene I also picked up a vegetarian and later vegan diet, although, in the beginning, it was more for political and ethnical instead of health reasons. It took me years to find out, that both approaches are just right and actually inseparably linked with each other.
It was almost another 20 years until I discovered, that occasional hiking trips and riding my bike when the sun was out is not exactly a sporty lifestyle, which had become more and more necessary once I subtly passed the 100kg weight mark. I was lucky to immediately fall in love with running once I tried it and it turned my life upside down, again.
Over the years I also learned a lot about relationships… the hard way. Being under constant fire of toxic thoughts and behavior is devastating and blights all the joy, growths and peace we all deserve. Fortunately I managed to developed a personal ‚toolbox‘ how to handle unhealthy relationships with other human beings and not a day goes by that I do not make use of it.
So now it’s 2020 and all those elements of living a conscious life with the goal to avoid doing harm my body or soul, but also to be a better person towards the outside world, are coming full circle with the theme of POISON FREE RUNNING.
This is my story and yours is different. That’s why POISON FREE RUNNING was not created to be a dogmatic set of rules you have to follow to claim this title or wear such a shirt. Instead it’s all about reflecting on the good and the threatening things around and inside of you and regularly ask yourself: „What’s MY poison?“.