Capability At Its Farthest

I used to be a runner.  I still consider myself one at times, but until I get back into the daily habit, I can't really use that term to describe myself.  Back when I was a runner, however, I would go for 6-8 mile runs daily.  With this experience, there are several truths I will claim to be evident.

Firstly, restarting is always the hardest part.  Taking a week off was one of the worst decisions I could make.  You see, momentum makes things possible that standing still does not.  Knowing that, moving backward causes even more problems (and when you take a week off from running, you are definitely moving backwards in ability).  For starters, the feeling that accompanies the running habit after a week break is one of avoidance.  Most often feelings drive our behavior.  Sadly, if feelings were the only motivation I had, I would have never gotten back into running.  

The other difficult part about taking a week-long break is retraining myself.  It hurts really bad to accomplish the level that I had been maintaining a week ago.    

The second lesson I learned was that the more I focused on the distance ahead of me, the more impossible the finish feels.  If you have ever been on a run for longer than a mile (or a yard, in all honesty), you understand what I am talking about.  Time and time again I convinced myself just to run to the next light post over and over again until I finally make it home.  If we focus too much on the future, we potentially waste all of the strength it takes to get through a single step.  

If you haven't made the comparison yet, let me tie it up for you.  Our life is a run.  Believing daily that we can do more and be more is the hardest at the beginning.  It becomes a part of life with practice.  The minute you stop encouraging yourself and move into the rut of disbelief in yourself, the more backwards will be your primary direction.  Moving forward has to be our focus.   

Running also compares to belief in distance.  Every step we take is a new challenge and the more exhausted we feel, the more daunting the future is. Our primary job is to focus on the now.  Watch your feet move and believe that next step is possible.  If you carry on with life this way, it will be amazing how much you are capable of accomplishing, and before you know it, how far you have traveled.  To clarify, I am not saying that you shouldn't plan for the future.  But don't combine your capability of doing those plans with your current place.  You will be ready to climb the hill when you reach it.  The future will determine your capability, not your now.  Stay striding, stay strong, stay optimistic; and before you know it, you will have traveled miles.

-"Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."  -Matthew 6:34