A couple of years ago, my dad trained for and completed a half marathon. I remember watching him cross the finish line, feeling inspired to one day achieve the same thing. Afterwards, I told him that next time I was going to run the half marathon with him. I didn't.
I did start running with him though. I remember the first time we ran and I wanted to stop and walk before we even reached the end of our road, but he wouldn't let me. He wouldn't let me walk at all. So we ran until we got home and by the end of it I was completely exhausted. We were only running 8 minutes.
The next time we went, I wanted to stop and walk again; and again, he wouldn't let me. But this time, his refusal to let me walk was grounded in one fact: he knew I didn't need to. By refusing to let my give up the first time, my dad had proven to both of us that I was capable of running the whole way round, regardless of how convinced I was that I couldn't. It became a mind-body battle, but my mind had a head start. My dad had instilled within me the knowledge that I could win, so I kept running. Each time that I ran without giving up, I was providing my mind with the confirmation that it needed to succeed, and each time I finished, I felt like I had achieved something. Not quite a half marathon, but something nonetheless.
The thing is, that sense of achievement wouldn't have been so if it hadn't have been a battle to start with. If there was never any element of challenge - if I was naturally capable of running as far as I wanted to with no desire to stop - what would I have achieved? I'd have done something, but I wouldn't have achieved it. That sense of achievement is important, because it provides the encouragement needed to face the next challenge too.
I think at the minute I'm starting to surrender to challenges, rather than viewing them as opportunities to achieve. That's not what my dad taught me on that first run - he taught me to run at any obstacles head on and defeat them. He taught me to embrace them as opportunities to grow and improve, and I'm certainly in need of improvement. I think it's time for a change of perspective. It might take a lot of mental will-power and a lot of perseverance, but its a necessary step towards achievement.
As they say, a smooth sea never made a skillful sailor.
