I'd credit this if I could, but I can't seem to locate the original link. So my disclaimer is that the following quote, made in reference to Tiger Woods, is not mine. And, nope, it's not about sex. What the writer does say is so much more interesting--to me--than if it had been about Tiger's marital issues:
Like so many other mega-celebrities who become famous too early, it's as though they never properly develop the part of their brain that controls this question: "How can I win over the person I'm talking to right now?" When you become famous too early, you don't have to win over anyone. You just have to exist. You become constantly wary. You start watching what you say around people you don't know. You measure any potential friend or business partner by one question: "What do they want from me?"Now, me on the other hand, I go thru life being open, trusting, and unwary, not willing to default into suspicion unless there is clear evidence that someone is snaking me. Sure, I get burnt on occasion, but by and large it's been a reasonably successful strategy for nearly 6 decades. And it's a lot less work than always being on one's guard.
Of course, the linkage to UltraRunning? Seems to me that UltraRunners, on the whole, are open and trusting people, quite unlike the Tiger model above. Maybe it's all that backcountry time, when we can ponder our great fortune at being able to run in such places, revel in our easy comraderie with our running peers, and smile at the sheer joy of living. When we're in the moment, it's just the running--and this "no-demand" pact with the backcountry seems to extend to everyday life.
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