My new friend Ann challenged me to think about why I say I “hate” running. Exploring this question was powerful and enlightening. I was completely unaware of how much meaning I’ve connected to running. For unknown reasons I’ve chosen to use how “well” I jog/run as my measurement of success. I think what makes this more difficult is that I’m not realistic or fair to myself in how I define success in running either. No wonder I “HATE” running! I never felt successful in fat girl bay watch jogging because I never felt I was fast enough, went far enough, or enjoy the experience enough. Who knew such a simple question could be so powerful? I need to measure against myself and no one else and I need to have realistic expectations and goals for jogging. When you look at where I started for jogging, I could barely walk a mile, much less fast walk/jog a 5k. So why am I so hard on myself that I can’t “jog” for a full mile yet? So tonight I tried something new, every time I felt like saying I hate this jogging, I instead questioned myself and why I hated it. I walked/jog 1.5 miles tonight and, guess what?! IT WORKED!!! Thank you Ann! It’s hard to change your life, but I remind myself daily it’s worth it. While it’s getting easier not to fall back on old habits, I do find them creep up occasionally and they call out to me. Remember how easy it was when you didn’t care? I remind myself; no it wasn’t easy because I was unhappy. Now I’m happy and challenged. You don’t grow when it comes easy, you grow when it’s hard and you are willing to overcome it.
Unstoppable “challenging myself” Mariah
I struggle with the same thing and found myself thinking well I can only do this because Im on a machine and the one day my personal trainer had me do some sprints and I remember thinking "wow I never would have done this before and its not killing me, I can actually do this"
ReplyDeleteGood for you, Mariah!! One day at a time, one mile at a time! You will transform yourself into a runner before you know it!
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