Gates of Babylon - Rainbow

Blackmore Rising

Lyrics:- 'You can see but you're blind' - Blackmore & Dio

Song Choice:- As a Purple Fan, I loved Rainbow and their 1978 Album, ‘Long Live Rock and Roll’. Back then, Richie Blackmore was one of the world’s leading guitarists (although a real diva from what I understand) and coupled with the Vocals of Ronnie James Dio and the thumping drumming of Cozy Powell, it’s no surprise that Rainbow were one of THE Rockbands of the late 70’s.

Anyway, it leads me onto a blog about ‘Negative Obsession’ and nothing new from me on that subject I hear you say. The only thing is, it’s cropped up so many times in my clients this week, it makes me wonder if ‘Negative Obsession’ is becoming a contagious disease and what steps can be taken to stop it taking hold when the ‘Gates of Babylon’ are all that’s stopping us reach the ‘Golden City of Satisfaction’.

Googling Babylon and I found it was the largest city in the world from 770 to 1670BC, and again between 612 and 320BC. It attracted the masses as the Big Apple of New York did in the early 20^th Century, where opportunity, fame and fortune awaited. Long gone, the remains of the city are about 85 kilometres south of Baghdad, with the Ishtar Gate being the eighth gate to the inner city of Babylon having been reconstructed.

I mean, aren’t we all trying to reach that magical eighth gate, in whatever sense you’d like to interpret it as, in whatever goal you’ve set yourself? And just how obsessive have you become on reaching that target? Is achieving 70% good enough to get you the ‘A’ grade you were looking for, or is anything less than 100% a catastrophic failure where endless procrastination and hours of ‘Negative Obsession Dissection’ corrodes the very impetuous that’s been created.

I never know why folk beat themselves up so much as if you put the work in – the rewards always follow – EVERY TIME.

Now if that’s you – take a day off from ‘Negative Obsession’ and see how you get on. You might find out you are already though the ‘Gates of Babylon’.

Keep your ‘Obsession Positive’, otherwise as Dio sings, ‘Sleep with the devil and then you must pay, sleep with the devil and the devil will take you away’ – and that would be a crying shame, wouldn’t it?

Rory Coleman - 986 Marathons - 241 Ultras - 13 Marathon des Sables

9 Guinness World Records - 8,487 Days' Alcohol Free

& 1 Inspirational Running Memoir - Get your copy here.

Location: Pembroke Road, Cardiff