Focusing on the moment, setting aside distractions

This is Coral Reef  Park, where I run.

It was a brisk morning today in South Florida, with temperatures in the mid-50's (yes, I know how warm that is, compared to other places). So for today's run, I decided to change things up a little bit, to get rid of something that is sort of a crutch: my iPhone. Or more specfically, the music from my iPhone.

When I run, I use the Nike+ app on my iPhone to record time, pace, and location. It's a handy thing. But the app also links up with my iTunes playlists on the phone. Also very handy. However, listening to music--while it may not be a bad thing--is not necessarily a good thing. In keeping with my desire to change the way I run, to find a greater level of harmony in the moment, I decided to put the music away for the day, to see how things go without it.

Delight in the simplicity of running

Were I to have the least bit of knowledge, in walking on a Great Road,
it's only going astray that I would fear.
The Great Way is very level;
But people greatly delight in tortuous paths.
--Lao-Tzu, Tào Té Chīng, Chapter 53, 6th century BCE

Lao-Tzu (also Laozi) was a Chinese philosopher who authored the now-famous Tao Te Ching, a collection of versus intended to impart wisdom to the reader. It is the principle foundation of Taoism, which--as both a religion and a philosophy--stresses living in harmony with the Tao. In Chinese philosophy, or more correctly spiritualism, the Tao (which loosely translates as "the way") is the principle driving force of the universe. It is at once both obscure and mundane, for while it defies being encapsulated in a simple definition, is in fact unknowable, it can be observed in the daily course of life. Thus, it establishes--to the observant, the one "in tune" with themselves and the world around them--principles for how to live.

Many of these principles are about morality, about understanding how to act towards others, towards nature itself; they reflect learning to not just live, but to live well. However, the path to understanding--or to enlightenment, if you will--includes an understanding of the purely physical, as well, insofar as there must be harmony within the individual who seeks such understanding. The question is, can one achieve such harmony in a given activity? If so, how?