How Cliche

On my run the other day I was giving advise to a friend via a well used cliche.

"Those who cut their run short today will be able to run another day"

Ok, so I mangled the cliche a bit to fit it to the situation. I do that a lot.

Later, during our final mile I was thinking about my advise and cliches in general. Cliches are not really carriers of information. They only have value if you have experience their essence. Having heard them is not the same as knowing them.

So if, for instance, I tell you to give your body a rest so that you don't injure yourself, you only really understand my advise if you have ignored that advise and done yourself harm in the process. Sure, you can imagine what it is like to push yourself too hard and get injured. You may have heard others talk about their war wounds. But to really understand, you have to experience the pain. The withdrawl. The slow recovery. The struggle to rebuild yourself to your former fitness level.

So a cliche is a warning to the uninitiated and a reminder to experienced. The former doesn't really get it until they become the latter.