As many of you are aware, through my request for donations to Gould Farm, I ran a 5k this weekend. This wasn't the first one I have done, but it is the first one I ran the most on. I had done this course last year with no training or even a clue to the path. I pushed through and with determination, made it to the finish line. I didn't enjoy it. I was proud of myself for showing up and doing it but fun, yeah, that was not on the list.
This year I was determined to do things differently. I had a time in mind and had set a soft achievement point (my word for goal as it sounds so much more friendly.) of consistency and less than 13 minute miles. That was all well and good but my main point was to have fun doing it. I was going to remember my breathing and I was going to laugh at the cows who moo'd their pride at our achievements. I was going to smell the leaves that had begun to fall and I was going to honor those that have tried to run through their challenges with mental illness. Sensitive souls who maybe Earth isn't their favorite home!
I was intending to have a joyful experience and I did! Did it hurt at times, you betcha. Was it a sweaty, not really attractive process, oh yeah but that is the fun part too. Learning to accept that life has these moments allows all of the challenges to be joyful in some respect. While I jokingly grumbled about the hills, I was validating to myself that no matter what comes up in my life, I will be able to climb it, run it, roll down it and land in the finish line and I will be smiling as I do it. Not in a fake, cheese it up way, but in a "hell yes I just did that" way.
One of the gifts we have available to us is how we see a situation. I am no Pollyanna, but I just don't get why you would want to focus on what is the hard part of things. So often I hear people say, but he hurt me, or she lied or that boss is a jerk. So? That's their story. What is yours? Where are you going to put your attention? To the things that didn't go well or to the things that did?
One other 5k I did there was an ambulance driver right on my butt. Yes, I was the last person in line. Yes, I was lapped by a seventy something year old who was late starting because he was in the bathroom and yes, that course had hills too. We are in the Berkshires after all. The ambulance pulls up next to me during one of my walk times and the driver says "you are doing exactly zero miles an hour." My first thought was, yeah buddy, on my feet, you are on your choochieboomie doing zero, but I caught myself because I wanted my run to be inspiring to me so I said, "YES I AM!" and turned to face the way I was heading and kept on going. They rode behind me the whole way. The fumes were impressive. I learned a lot that day because it took all I had to talk myself to the finish in a joyous way. I literally re-patterned my thinking along the route which was good because it made me forget about some of those hills and the driver!
I could have let his attitude and judgment bother me but I decided that day that even if I was the last one in, I wasn't, but if I was, I was going to be stinking proud of myself for deciding to be in life in a joyous way. Really, what is the point if you aren't going to do that. What is the point if you are going to allow others limited thinking bother you?
We are all entered into races in our lives. We do them at our pace and we do them to best of our ability, I really believe that. I also believe that our ability can increase and we need to do all we can to get to the loving life place and be contagious about it when we get there! Some race days will be tougher than others, but if you are dressed and ready to go, how you run it is determined by you and no one else.
I wish you all the fun of cows and hills and those oh so sexy headbands to keep the sweat out of your eyes on your journey!
Perhaps a 10k is next......
Vicki
Good for you, inspiring and good focus. I'll try to keep that in mind
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