My Very Own 'Nothing' Box

Mark Gungor's premise that men have a 'nothing' box is often quoted around me by my boyfriend. I'll look over to him and wonder what he is thinking. Because I'm a woman, this thought comes rushing straight out of my mouth.

Often I'll get the reply, "Nothing."
"But what are you REALLY thinking?"
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I'm in my 'nothing' box."

Still, I wondered what he is thinking in his 'nothing' box. Even if it's just some idle meandering, they must be thinking something, right?

Well, that's what I thought until yesterday. Yesterday I decided to get up off my ever-enlarging posterior and do something about it.

I did consider going to the gym or building a swimming pool that fills up our entire (smallish) back garden. I ran into a few problems of time, money and the logistics with regards to Archie (our canine, who believes he's human) so I decided to do the unthinkable (for me)- I went for a run.

Now, when I say 'run' I mean that I waddled down the street more rapidly for a few paces, interspersing them with some less rapid waddling. For anyone who's seen my quick-slow run (courtesy of my sister posting it on youtube), it wasn't even as pace-y as that. Let me stress the rarity of me running anywhere: the last time I remember running was 2010 when we were on holiday in Disneyland and we wanted to get Thunder Mountain fast-pass tickets while my family were waiting for Pirates of the Caribbean to open. Everyone else in my family was injured in some way, so I took one for the team. It was Disneyland, I was hyper and so it was completely manageable. Otherwise, I hate running. Hate the way it jars my knees and ankles, hate the sweatiness, hate the public humiliation of it all. I imagine people are looking at me thinking, "Run, Fat Girl, Run."

Nevertheless, I did discover something quite remarkable on my run. Now, I've heard that when some people run they think of how quickly they can get to the next lamppost or they think about solutions to their problems or think about the world around them. I tried all of those things. I had my headphones in and EFY: Believe, Hope, Endure blasting out. (I recommend "We Believe" as a great start to a run- got me really motivated!). I tried to concentrate on the lyrics. I tried to focus on what a beautiful day it was. I tried to think about my speed, my knees... anything. I tried to think about the things I've been praying for recently. Instead, I kept being drawn back to... 'nothing'. Absolutely nothing. I was in my 'nothing' box. I HAVE a 'nothing' box! 

I went for a run this morning to see if it was a fluke; but no, there it was again! I guess I've heard people say that running 'clears [their] head' - I never thought it would EMPTY it!

Having stayed for a while (30mins, burnt 218 calories... hardly seems worth it to be fair) in my 'nothing' box, I'm starting to realise why people retreat there. It's a wonderful place! It reminded me of this, from the movie "What Women Want". I still don't love running but if it allows me to enter my very own 'nothing' box from time to time, we may become friends yet!

(Pictured above: my reward for jogging- banana, peach, strawberry and orange smoothie <3 )