Pushing Through to the Next Peak

Yesterday I completed another long run in my training for a marathon in November, 19km, and it as a doozy! A well-known truth distance running is that on any given day you can have a great run or a horrible run. Today was one of those tough ones. I finished it, in a decent time even, but I felt like crap, and many, many, times, I felt like stopping. Why didn't I? 1) Because I have nurtured a desire and an ability to push through pain, discomfort, and fatigue, in order to achieve a goal and 2) I knew it would pass.

Another truth of distance running is that when you start to feel crummy, and you often do, it doesn't mean that you're day is near it's end or that you will necessarily feel that way for the rest of the run. Long distance running, like life, has it's ups and downs. In one day, a runner may experience three or four peaks and valleys. Moments where you feel like you want to stop are followed moments later by feeling like you could run forever. So when they hit a rough patch, experienced runners know that all they need to do is push through it, and a better stretch is sure to follow. The catch is, you actually have to push through the tough stuff and keep running, in order to experience the good run on the other side. What a great metaphor for success in business and in life.

In the Book of Proverbs in the Bible it says, "It is always darkest before the dawn". In other words, our greatest moments often follow our toughest ones. If you are like me and you find this to be incredibly accurate, have you ever thought about why? Have you ever wondered why it is that our greatest achievements, our proudest moments, and our best memories, often come after our worst failures, saddest defeats and worst nightmares? I believe it is because for those who choose to, obstacles can supply an even greater desire to succeed. Those who fail know how it feels, and they don't like it. That feeling is a great motivator to work harder and succeed next time, and it provides the strength and determination you need to push through the inevitably difficult times in life so that you can experience the success that awaits on the other side.

A business that succeeds after going bankrupt, an athlete who wins the gold after falling in the race the year before, the candidate who wins the election after having been defeated four years earlier, know how special their achievements are and able to appreciate them in ways that those who manage to go straight to the top without hitting many bumps, don't. And they are able to experience those successes only because instead of giving up when they encounter discouragement and defeat (as many others would), they push through to the other side.

So are you pushing through? Are you focussed on the peak when you're going through your valley, or do you hit a dip and quit? The choice is yours, and the level of your success will be determined by your choice.


And victory never tastes so sweet as when it comes after a loss

Life is Beautiful

Life. What is it? Many people have defined it, many have tried to explain it and many have expressed their feelings about it but no one I've read or heard yet has been able to explain, express or define it's beauty. I won't be able to either, but today I want to remind you of the beauty, the wonder and the gift that is life. To do that, I want to share with you a perspective we can all appreciate, that of my two year old daughter, Emma.

Emma is a constant reminder to me that life is an awesome, beautiful and amazing thing. Because of her youth, she is amazed by nearly everything. We go for a walk and she sees an ant crawling on the ground, she stops, she examines it, she watched it walk along the pavement and she takes it all in. She is awestruck by this ant. To her, it is an amazing thing.

Later on our walk she will notice the sewer drain in the side of the road. She hears the sound of rushing water and she stops to listen and watch, to see what can be discovered from this interesting discovery.

A while later she'll ask to push her stroller with her baby doll in it. She'll walk along proudly pushing her baby and talking to her the whole length of the walk, describing what's happening, pointing things out to her (or at least that's what I assume she's doing since I can rarely make out more than a few words she says to her baby). Finally we come back to our driveway and Emma fights not to go inside. She loves to walk, to discover, to play and she doesn't want it to end. I bring her inside as she cries I try to re-assure her that we will go on other walks. There will be more discovering another day.

What Emma has taught me, and continues to teach me, is that life is amazing. There is so much to be discovered, appreciated and enjoyed. She doesn't need a good reason to laugh, she just does it. She doesn't need anything truly extraordinary (at least by adult standards) to be awestruck and amazed, she takes everything in with a true appreciation and amazement for the wonder that is life. And it's inspiring to watch.

Emma reminds me, and should remind us all, that life is a beautiful and amazing and it should be a valuable gift that we treasure and use to the best of our abilities. As adults it can be easy to forget this amongst the bills, work, responsibilities, stress, but we need to. We need to remember that life is short, and we shouldn't waste a minute of it complaining, worrying or doing anything but appreciating and using it.

Today may you be more open the wonder and beauty that is your life. Take a moment to breathe in the fresh morning air. Take a second to really SEE. Take in the blue sky, the sun and the rainbows. It's an amazing, beautiful and awe-inspiring world out there. Enjoy it!