I used to be a pretty good runner, in what seems like forever a go. I used to run marathons and would wake up every morning with my shorts and socks on (literally), so I could just brush my teeth, put on my shoes, and take off. I was good at it because I would run a lot. I would not just crave and look forward to the races, but I loved the training.
Not so much anymore.
I don’t love it. I am trying to, but I am out of shape and it is hard to love something you are not good at. Instead of having my shorts on and being ready to go, I avoid it in the morning as much as I can. I know it is going to be painful. That being said, I still run. I still go through the grind.
One of the hardest parts of running now is getting passed on a path. Over and over again. Every time someone passes me, it is kind of deflating.
Yet this morning when I was on a run, and one person after another passed me (I stopped counting at 40), I realized something. I only see the people who are faster than me. The people who are behind me, I won’t see (today). It is easy to focus on those who are ahead of you, but you tend to lose sight that you even being in the race, probably means you are still ahead of others. Even if you are in a race, and are in dead last place, remember this:
Having been a pretty good runner before, I know the work it takes for someone to be really good at running. When I used to run marathons and people would ask me, “How can you run a marathon?!?!? It seems so hard.” What I would always tell them is, “The marathon is easy…it’s the training is hard.”
What I loved about running before was the community…Although there were some who cared only about their running (which is fine because they may have a different purpose for why they do it), there were so many others who cared about one another. People would both push and support. The people ahead of you might drive and push you to get better, but the people still trying to get to where you are at, you would support. There is never a shortage of road.
Probably one of the reasons I still run, is that I know there is so much I learn from the process. I can continue to focus on those that are ahead of me and become deflated, or I can continue to work hard to be better at what I do.
As my friend Dwight Carter often says:
“Make it a great day…or not. The choice is yours. #BeGreat“
Every day I get up for a run, is a choice that I am making that is making an impact on not only today, but tomorrow and moving forward. Just something I wanted to remind myself.
Source: George Couros
from Connected Principals http://ift.tt/2cx1ssG
No comments:
Post a Comment