Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. — Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami; who is he?
Haruki Murakami is a Japanese novelist, short story writer and translator. His deeply imaginative, thought provoking and downright strange books have become international bestsellers; his work has been translated into 50 languages, and his books have sold millions of copies outside of Japan.
Murakami also runs; the author started running in the fall of 1982, and has been running since then for nearly 23 years (this article is inspired by his non fiction work What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, published in 2008 but written in 2005–2006). Over that time period of 23 years, he jogged almost every single day and ran in at least one marathon every single year.
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In his non fiction work What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, he opens up with an introduction that talks about the difference between pain and suffering. There’s power in this difference.
I’ve found that the lessons in this book, despite the fact that they are clearly tailored to running, are applicable to virtually every situation in life — sports, business, writing, investing etc.
