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The game called run.
"You didn't practice for your first cross country race."
This comment is something I wrote in journal several years ago. I had isolated myself to a cabin the woods for some deep thinking. The rest of the entry seemingly had nothing to do with the comment.... or did it <3
True.
I wasn't prepared for my first cross country race.
I joined a few weeks into the season. At the end of my first week of practice, we had our first meet. My first meet ever. I think I had three days.
I was not a "runner". I wasn't planning to become one either. I was a senior. This was my last year in sports.
All that to say, I felt pretty new to the game.
The game was called run.
The gun went off.
I ran because that is what you do.
And I got tired.
I picked a tree in the distance and told myself, "You can walk once you get to that tree. Keep running until then."
And before I got to that tree, I would pick a new one and tell myself, "You still have enough in you to get to that tree. You can walk once you get there."
Crossing the finish line, I was still running.
The kicker is, that meet put me on the Varsity team for the season.
Did I win the game?
The game was called run.
I have a saying in my life that I use often now.
The gun goes off and you run.
When we set goals in life, when we take on new things, when a challenge we get to deal with comes up...
It's just like a cross country race. The gun goes off and you run. You pick the next thing to run towards and when you get there you pick the next task,goal,solution ahead of that. You run until you get to the finish.
Stepping up to the line is your willingness to play. Running the race is taking actions toward your goals. The finish line is the victory line. <3
My random comment in my journal was a reminder.
I was walking into an unknown season.
As much as I wanted to prepare for it, plan for it, figure it all out, practice it, and "be ready".
As much as I didn't want to fail. I didn't want to get it wrong...
I knew, I didn't necessarily need to have it all prepared or all perfect. I knew this because I had already done it.
Step up to the starting line,
the gun would go off,
and I would run.
And I would win.