It’s another Faithful Friday and today’s inspiration comes from something that happened today.
Tomorrow, my husband, two children, and I will compete in a 5k in our town. For my husband, a 5k is no big deal, and even for me it’s not anymore. It never used to be that way, but I have trained myself to run 5ks, a 10k, and soon my first half marathon. Our son ran a 5k with me when he was 5, (although I did have to carry him for part of it). My daughter on the other hand, has never competed in a race. She’s totally motivated to do it because she thinks it will be fun and she’s looking forward to it…or was.
That was until we got to the track to train today and it was warmer than usual and she realized how many times around she would have to run to equal a 5k. Now granted, she is only 8 and her little legs do not have the same stride that mine do. I get that.
I have been in her shoes, and many times, I still am. There are things in my life that I want, that I think I should do. There are also things in life that I want that I think I can’t do.
And that is when my shoulds need to turn to MUSTS and my can’ts to I WILL.
If I stay in that place of shoulds and can’ts, then I will most definitely never have the things or experiences I want in my life. That is for certain. Those shoulds and can’ts are what hold me back from reaching my potential. They keep me from becoming the person I am meant to be.
Now getting back to my daughter. I wasn’t about to let her “I can’ts” stop her from seeing what she is capable of doing. I told her not to worry about the end of the race. I told her not to worry about how fast she was or wasn’t. I told her not to focus on the heat, because I know that what you focus on is what you get. I told her to pick a landmark that she felt was a stretch for her, but probably doable, and focus on reaching that. Then after she reached that, she could pick another, and then another, until she would be at 3.1 miles. I told her she WILL do this. That she HAD this. That she was capable of MORE than she thought.
And you know what she did? The first landmark she picked was further than I would have picked for her, but it was HER race. She was racing against HERSELF. She took off running. And didn’t look back.
She did it. Landmark to landmark, until she was done.
Her should became a MUST. Her can’t became an I WILL. And more importantly, she found that sweet spot where she made a decision and literally ran with it.
Life is too short for it to be filled with shoulds and can’ts.
We MUST push ourselves so that we WILL be able to reach our potential and truly live this amazing life we have been given.
So, if an 8 year old can do it… WILL YOU?
