What's your mantra?

If you've been here before, you might well know that I'm a distance runner. Not a fast one, but a runner just the same.

Before another dark winter sets in, I got a Road ID bracelet with my name plus phone numbers in case of emergency.

I added one more line: my running mantra. When I get tired or get in a bad mental state, I repeat to myself: "Relax. Power. Glide. God."

This is mostly stolen from Olympic runner Jeff Galloway. I'm a big fan, and his mantra is "Relax. Power. Glide."

That is: Relax tense muscles. I have a tendency to tighten shoulder and back muscles while running, and this helps ease that tension. Power reminds me that I train and have reserved power to use when running gets tough. Glide is designed to get you into the state of mind that you are just gliding along with little effort.

God, which is my addition, reminds me that I am not gliding alone. God is my ultimate source of power and my reason to relax.

I could see how people can use a mantra in daily life, other types of exercise, or when life throws trouble our way.

So, what's your mantra?

(Photo of Jeff Porter with Jeff Galloway, on the right, in 2012.)