Accept Pain: 15 Days Remaining

This morning I did the same 3.5 mile run as a couple days ago.  After checking google maps, I found out that it is actually between 3.6 and 3.7 miles. I used Kate's 2nd generation iPod Shuffle on the run and it definitely started me at a solid pace. (It was my first time to run with music - pretty fun as long as you look both ways at intersections...) So, I ran it in 27:43 - which I felt really good about. I want to hit just under 8 minute mile pace and that did it.

I really had to dig deep with about 5 minutes to go though. And running that sub-6 minute mile a couple days really helped me realize how fast I could run, so I cranked it up to 6 minute mile pace the last 3 minutes.  But let me tell you, I was hurting. Halfway, I acquired that lovely pain in your side - the one when you don't breathe evenly or deeply enough.

IMPORTANT THOUGHTS:


Accepting Pain:
Needless to say, I made my goal for this morning, but not without pain. When I was 7 minutes from my final destination, I couldn't find the right song to bring me home, so I went all naturale and took out the headphones. I quickly realized that I there was no way I would make my time if I wanted to avoid pain. At this point I really need to embrace it.

As Americans, we really enjoy our comfort. To most of the world, what we think of as pain, is really just hard work. But to not confuse anyone, I'll keep using the word pain, mainly because it means more to us than the phrase, hard work.  A little word of advice: If you want to accomplish any goal worth the effort, accept the fact that you will have pain - lots of it.  Once you realize pain is inevitable, you must accept it and embrace it.  And you'll get a lot further, much more quickly.

Pain is Easy When You're #1:
After realizing I don't do a good job at accepting pain, I looked back in my life to see if there was any place where I really dug deep for something.  (Sadly, there really wasn't much - and I say sadly because I now see all the potential I could have accessed if I worked as hard on those past things as I'm working for this goal of 3 miles in under 18 minutes in 30 days.)  One thing that did pop up was art.

I compare myself to those around me ALL the time and if I see myself as better than someone at something, then working hard to maintain that status doesn't hurt as much. In High School and College, I remember staying up to 2, 3, even 4 in the morning finishing an art project that was due the next day. But that pain didn't hurt much because my reward was great - having the best project in the class, being #1.

As I grew older, I began realizing that the world is a big place.  I slowly came to the realization, there are a lot of people out there who are better at art than I am.  So now, I really feel the "pain" in hard work and discipline when I pick up my sketchbook or pull out a canvas.  That is the number one reason I've hardly done any art since college. I had an art class every year from age 5 to 22 - and now I'm afraid I'll have to go through too much "pain" because I'm not the "best in my class" anymore.  It seems silly, but it's real. The same could be said for playing musical instruments in my life. Can you find anything in your life that you've set aside because you're not the best at it anymore?


Become the best person you can be without comparing yourself to others - and realize you'll need to embrace the pain to make it.




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