The one who decided to stop running

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of running.

Chasing projects, deadlines, unread emails, Instagram likes, invitations we don't have time to honor, to-do lists we fill faster than we cross them off.

One day I realized I was living my life in "fast forward" mode. As if my happiness was found After : after this contract, this trip, this external validation.
What if it was NOW that happiness was being played out?
Not after. Not when it's calmer. Not when I have "time."
But there. In the middle of the mess. Expectations.

It's a never-ending race, isn't it? A race that, the more we run, the further it takes us away from what we're really looking for. Because in the end, what do we find when we run? A little fatigue, a little stress, a lot of frustration. The feeling of having achieved a lot, but of having remained, somehow, empty. The feeling that by running, after all, we forget the essential thing: living.

For a long time, I let myself get caught up in this whirlwind, convinced that happiness and tranquility were at the end of this race. That all I had to do was run a little faster, a little harder, a little further, and one day, it would happen. But at each stage, instead of finding what I was looking for, I just found myself a little more tired. A little more rushed. And I realized that I was slowly moving away from what really mattered. Me. My balance. My inner peace.

So one day, I decided to stop. Not in a dramatic way, not a big life change. No, just a small inner choice. A small moment when I decided to stop running. To stop chasing everything and nothing.. To simply be there, without an agenda. To let life unfold at its own pace, rather than trying to control it every moment.

I realized that by running around, I had forgotten the simple pleasure of being present in the moment. I stopped trying to fill everything. I no longer immediately responded to every message, every notification. I took the time to breathe. To walk without a specific goal, just to walk. To drink my coffee without rushing to the next thing to do. To look around me and see really what was around me, without always thinking about what came next.

I allowed myself to say "no" without feeling guilty. I allowed myself to say "I'm not ready" or "it's not for me right now." Because deep down, this incessant race left me with a bitter taste of non-life. Of a life that passes by in the background, that we watch pass by without really living it.

Stopping running doesn't mean giving up, or even stopping doing anything. But it does mean choosing to no longer be a slave to the race. It means understanding that peace isn't found at the end of the marathon, but in every step we take. That every moment counts, and running faster won't make us appreciate it more.
It's choosing to savor the journey, not just wait for the destination.

And the best part is, we have nothing to lose by slowing down. When we stop running, we realize we're more present, more available for what's truly important. We discover things we'd forgotten, that we no longer saw, or that we'd never seen before: a smile, a sincere conversation, a moment of calm. A moment without pressure, without obligation.
We find our own rhythm, the one that belongs to us, and not the one dictated by society, by others, or by that famous “we must do more”.

I'm not saying everything is easy, far from it. There are times when the temptation to run returns. Times when we tell ourselves everything is too slow, too calm. But every day, I remind myself that true richness is in those simple moments. In those moments when we are finally there, completely, without trying to do more.

So today, I'm writing this column for you from a cafe where I took my time.
Where I watched people pass by. Where I took real pleasure in writing these lines.
Without rushing.
Without justifying myself.

So, the next time you feel that urge to run coming on, try to stop. Even for a few minutes. Take a break. Look around you. Listen to what your body is telling you. Because we live in a world where we're constantly being pushed to run, but the truth is that by slowing down, we rediscover real life. The one that's happening right there, all around us. And the one that's happening, above all, inside us.