This morning as I was doing my morning cardio routine I had this thought pop into my head from a time in my life when I was a long distance runner. Yes, that was over 20 years ago, but it reminded me of a common pattern many people are known to do in life.
We get comfortable in life, and are afraid to kick into the next exciting gear. Many of us stay in first gear putting along merrily. Oh, life doesn’t get too crazy that way we think. Yes, but it doesn’t really allow us to grow or experience excitement either.
Where am I going with this you’re asking? Oh, my friend let me paint you a picture back when I was just fifteen years old. I had just joined the high school cross-country running team with my best friend. Little did I know what I was getting myself in to at the time I signed the waiver saying I was healthy enough to do this insane sport. I mean this coach actually had us do anywhere from 3 to 14 miles of practice runs each week prior to our 3.1 mile meet competitions.
I have to be honest I first joined this sport for pure socialization. I was excited that I was going to be able to travel out of town on meets, and eat in restaurants without my parents and sister tagging along. Also, I was able to hang out with high school students, which was pretty exciting to someone who was coming up daily from the Junior High School.
I have to say I never really took the practices too seriously at the time. In fact, I giggled, laughed, and putted along on each practice run with my best friend. The coach would drive in his car checking up on the runners, and would frequently shout out the window for my friend and I to get moving faster as we were the stragglers of the group. I am certain that he was quite frustrated at our lack of drive.
So, you can imagine that when the first official meet came my best friend and I were not mentally, emotionally, or even physically prepared for this event. In fact, because we had both joined late we didn’t have enough practices to wear the uniform. They had provided us a pair of sweat pants that were so large they came up past my breasts, and an over size t-shirt that went past my thighs. My friend and I, in our over sized gear giggled and laughed on the bus thinking we were just along for the ride. We didn’t know that the coach had planned on having us run this event for a practice run. Can you imagine the look in our big blue eyes when the coach said, “All right girls go to the starting line you are both running this event! Now get in line with the others.”
When the gun went off, I remember holding up my sweat pants cursing in my head going “No way! I just came along for the ride! I just came along for the food at the end of the event! I didn’t think he’d make me run it.” I remembered running up the hill and seeing football players point and laugh at my oversize gear. I was embarrassed, angry, and royally pissed off at the coach for putting me through this torture.
As the race continued I watched my best friend start crying and telling the coach her side hurt. She was told to walk it off for the rest of the race. I was thinking I’d like to find the nearest telephone pole, and knock myself out forcing me to not have to finish the race. Yes, I was not a happy runner. My over size gear and the hot penetrating sun just caused my inner teapot to come to a complete boiling whistle. I did what any spoiled frustrated teenager who felt powerless and like a failure would do. I walked the rest of the race cursing every two steps “I hate this stupid sport! I hate running! I hate the dumb coach! I hate this stupid race.”
Little did I know, that the crowd in the stadium was waiting for me, the pokey little grumpy runner (I use that term lightly) to finish this race. For the other runners were not allowed to begin until I had been cleared off the course. A normal race is over in 30 minutes or less. I was just coming in to the finish line barely at 56 minutes holding a frown and my sweat pants up with one hand. I came in with a really bad attitude, and boy did I get to hear about it from the coach.
You’d think with the pep talk that I received from the coach that my attitude towards running would change, but being the stubborn budding socialite I continued to slack during practices. This slacking and lack of true commitment showed during the first three meets as I continued to come in dead last. Everyone on the team expected me to come in last, and I proved them right each and every time.
This pattern of staying in first gear continued until my 4th cross-country meet where I chose to talk to my best friend during the instructions for the course. I happened to miss some crucial rules that happened to be a blessing in disguise.
The gun went off as normal, and this time in a uniform that fitted my tiny stature I took off running at my normal first gear pace. Everything was going completely normal until somewhere during the race I believed that I was almost at the finish line. I excitedly started to run faster enthusiastically ready to finish this race. As I continued to run I noticed I was passing lots of people, and I remembered thinking “what is wrong with those people, why are they going so slow? The race is almost over.” I powered all the way to the finish line thinking “yes! Its over!” but was disappointed to hear my coach say “Shannon, you still have a complete lap around the entire golf course to go, get going, the race isn’t over yet!”
“What! I have another complete lap to go? I thought we only had to go around 2 times, not 3 times!” Had I listened to the instructions at the beginning instead of chatting with my best friend I would have known this. I was so embarrassed that I swiftly took off running faster than I had ever run before in a race, and it felt good. I managed to finish that course in 24 minutes and some odd seconds. I didn’t know I was even capable of doing this. My own abilities shocked not only my coach, but me as well.
The following week there were over 200 racers at a large invitational event, and I, for the first time had switched gears into actually committing and fully being in the race. When the gun went off, I took off, and ran like I had never done in the past. It felt good, and even better when I crossed the finish line in 6th place winning a ribbon for my efforts.
All this time, I had it in me, but was afraid to push myself out of my comfort zone. How many of us do that in our lives? We settle for security or the comfort zone instead of going for a life filled with passion and growth.
So, why not look at your life right now, and ask yourself is there an area that you are coasting along in first gear? Is there an area where you desire to feel more passion or newness but you are afraid to shift gears due to fear of the unknown?
Why not take that risk. Love deeper than you ever have before. Play harder than you ever dared. Whatever it is you desire to change, just simply do it! By switching out of first gear you, too, just might find you have an award winning life enthusiastically waiting for you.
Technorati Tags: Shannon Faulkes
