Sunday, August 24, 2008

Inspiration

Today I ran my first road race, a 5K (3.1 miles) in perhaps 4 or 5 years. I fully anticipated doing some walking. I surprised myself by managing to run the whole way. I further surprised myself by being able to pick up the pace the last 50 yards or so and passing several people. My time was 31:03 (a VERY pleasant surprise).

There are several points of this posting. All too often, we limit ourselves with negative expectations. It's a good idea to periodically push ourselves beyond what we think we can do. Someone said that if you have never failed, that you've never risked enough. I ran much of the race with Matt, a 80 year old man who started running at 50. Since then, he has run over 2000 races, including over 100 marathons! Matt, as well as several others were very encouraging to me when I commented on tiring. Runners generally are very encouraging to others. This is a good reminder for us to look to be more encouraging, more affirming, and treating others more often in positive ways. It also reminds us that inspiration is all around us. Sometimes we cannot see past the blinders of depression. Other times, we focus on looking for negatives, to affirm our notions that people, politicians, the world, etc. stink and will let you down. Better to be more positive towards others and to look for inspiration around us.

Best wishes,
Mike

2 comments:

Tracy's Photogaphs said...

COOOOOL! You got a blog on blogspot, like ME!!!!!

Kate said...

Mike, I am enjoying reading your inspiring blog. Keep the articles coming! Kate Boswell MFT http://stressfree2day.blogspot.com

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