This morning I went to visit an old friend. A friend who has been there for me always. A friend who doesn’t hold it against me when I’ve gone to long without visiting (it’s been some months) but at the same time doesn’t make it easy on me. A friend who is consistently supportive and never bends under whatever weight I bring to them when I come…My friend…Lake Montebello. When I got out of my truck, I did the usual stretches and pulled out my phone to pull up my running playlist (think The Weeknd, Musiq Soulchild, Mint Condition, Floetry, Brian McKnight, etc. Listen, I need music that starts out just as slow as I do when I run.) The sun was shining, the wind was slightly blowing off of the water and as I took in a deep breath of fresh air, I thought about the runs that almost seem like fairy tale runs. It’s a run that as soon as you start out, you realize that it’s perfect running weather, the sun is shining in that not to hot type of way, but just enough to let you know it is there, your mind is clear and has connected to your brain which tells your knees, “I got you. No pain today,” as your knees tell your calves, “we’ll hold you up, it’s all good,” and your calves tell your feet, “go on and take us somewhere, we got enough muscle to help you through however many miles.” And you realize your entire body is in sync and as the wind is at your back pushing you through your journey of miles, you can’t help but smile, because this is gonna be easy. And as I stepped onto the track, in a slow jog, one foot in front of the other starting out with mile one with The Weeknd in my ears singing to me that I ” earned it”, my brain told my knees, who told my calves, who told my feet, “Taria, you ain’t in Never Never land today…this run is gonna be hard! And I’m just running, the sun shining…in my eyes so it’s hard for me to see, running in the direction OF the wind so it felt like it was pushing me backward with every step I tried to take forward and that same wind all of a sudden had a chill to it that made me want to stop and turn around and go back to the truck. I mean in my mind, none of those things did I have control over, so why try to keep running forward against elements that kept making it hard for me. But I kept running. And as I slowly ease into 1.5 miles, I think I may have found my groove, slightly. I’m breathing through my nose, my posture is correct and I allow my mind to just coast (which, those of you who know me, you know that’s not an easy thing for my mind to do. And for those of you that are just getting to know me, that is not an easy thing for me to do.) And I’m doing pretty good on my run, still moving forward at the speed I’m meant to go, then all of a sudden I feel someone coming up on my rear on the right hand side. Immediately, I speed up and then look back and as I am looking back, a woman with a big dog is passing me. I almost get OFF the track because I have a fear of dogs. Shoot.. let the dog have the track! But I stayed on. But I continue to watch the woman run ahead of me and get further and further away. I mean to me it looks like she is slower than me and therefore, she should still be behind me. I mean how was she able to come up from behind me holding onto a big dog that is heavy enough that it should be slowing her down (in my eyes) and I didn’t see her anywhere near the track when I started, and yet she came up from behind me and passed me!!!! I was so focused on her passing me when I was on that track BEFORE her, that it took me a minute to realize that I had slowed down and lost my rhythm and my posture was off which was causing my back to hurt, my breathing had become labored and I was starting to get cramps on my right side because I was breathing with my mouth open and taking in air, instead of through my nose and pushing out air. This continued on for a short while until it dawned on me that I was using so much energy to figure how she passed me, that I was getting ready to sabotage my own progress in moving forward…And I realized, that is how we can get messed up in life sometimes. There we are, traveling along on the paths to our goals feeling like we can do whatever it is we set out to do. And then along comes someone who has the same goal as you, and looks to be on the same journey as you, and then,they pass you. They get the promotion when you had been diligently working towards it, they get picked to lead a solo when you had been practicing for weeks and didn’t even know they were on the track with you. They get the proposal first when GOD knows you have been patiently waiting.They get selected to preach a sermon when they just graduated seminary and you’ve been ordained for years. And before you know it, you’ve gotten off track from working toward the thing you were gifted and born to. You’ve started regressing all because you were focused on someone else that was progressing. And the thing is, that person who you think has come out of nowhere to pass you, you don’t know what they have gone through to get to where they are going to.
So here I am at Lake Montebello, having an epiphany. I realized, I had to run MY pace and not let someone else’s pace throw me off track. I realized, it didn’t matter if I got to the “finish line” after the woman who passed me because in actuality, there was no finish line…It wasn’t a competition, it was two woman, who both liked to run and just happened to be out on the track at the same time. We still had to run our OWN race at our OWN pace…
I want to encourage anyone who feels like they are behind on what it is they are supposed to be doing and so you want to quit…keep running. If you feel like you have been working towards something for so long, and all of a sudden someone comes out of nowhere and passes you…keep running. If you feel like there are things beyond your control that are trying to force you backwards when you KNOW you are supposed to be moving forward, change your posture, to one of prayer…then get up… and keep running!
I love you guys! Thank you for reading…
Hebrews 12 vs. 1-2 NIV “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on JESUS.”
P.S. I ended up meeting my goal…3 mile run nonstop. :):):)
Love this inspiring post. We often give up when we are almost too close to our goal, its so important to not do so and keep running in your words.
xx, Kusum | http://www.sveeteskapes.com
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Hi Kusum! Wow! Thank you so much! And thank you for reading! And yes! We have to keep going!
And thank you for the encouragement!
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Very well written post. I loved the motivation!
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Hi Purejackie! Thank you so much! And thank you for reading!
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Everyone is different… each person can have a different point of view. Such an important message! Thanks for posting!
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Hi Dreammerin! Thank you!
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Yes and running at your own pace can be applied to many other things in life. Don’t get down just cause others are ahead of you.
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Hi Nina! Thank you for reading! Yes! We have to stay focused.
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I thought about picking up running once. But it was not for me. I enjoyed cycling more. But I get that vibe of connecting with nature and your body in this magical sort of way.
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Hi Keith! Thank you so much for reading! Yes!! Yes! Yes!! When every thing just works! It is magical!
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I am glad you are getting your goals! Would be great to see some space between all that text! Looks like a bible 😛
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Hi Nicolas! Thank you! And thank you for reading!
Yes my older blog posts are like that. Someone else mentioned that to me, and I told them I had no clue how to do the spacing seeing as how I am not really good with WordPress… to bad they didn’t offer their wisdom on how to do it 😂
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We’re all on our own journey and we need to remember that we need to go at our own pace! Thanks for reminding us.
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Hi Megan! Thank you so much for reading! And thank you! Yes, GOD gave us our own journeys…
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Loved the way you have put it up. Everyone has their own race, with their own limits and strengths everyone will reach their goals someday
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Hi gobeyondbounds! Thank you so much! And thank you for reading! And yes we will!
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As different as our faces, so our races on earth.
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Hi Lex! Thank you so much for reading!
You are absolutely right! Good way to put it!
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Great thoughts and very interesting. Thank you for sharing!
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Hi Wanderlustyleblog! Thank you! And thank you for reading!
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As a runner, I love racing analogies. And being competitive, it is truly difficult to not start comparing ourselves to others. We must run our own race. No one else can run ours and we cannot run someone elses. Encouraging each other along this race of life will definitely help us all get there no matter our pace.
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Hi Kristi! Thank you so much for reading! You wrote such a powerful statement…”Encouraging each other along this race of life will definitely help us all get there no matter our pace.” That is so true! I need to make sure I continue to strive to do so.
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I often get discouraged by how little progress I’ve made. I beat myself up and quit. This was very encouraging.
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Hi Tami! Thank you for reading! And thank you so much! And whenever you feel discouraged… look at how you have at least started what it is you wanted to do! Some people never do.
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Very inspiring post! It reminded me of Shakespeare quote that the world is a stage and everyone has to play their own part. Therefore we shouldn’t bother about anyone or anything but do things at our own pace!
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Hi Ana Ojha! Thank you so much! And thank an you for reading! That is very true! Great analogy!
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Ah, it is so important to stay motivated and to attain the goals one has set. However, there can be fluctuations at certain times.
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Hi Fatima! Thank you for reading!
Very true! And it is now we handle the fluctuations that will help us or hinder us.
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Great words! that is my biggest downfall especially in blogging I am always trying to get ahead to stay at the same pace as them. What i have learned is that slow and steady wins the race.
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Hi Janella2016! Thank you so much! And thank you for reading! Yes! Even when we want to sprint and darn near have to restrain ourselves😂😂😂
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Such a great reminder. Perseverance is necessary for us all.
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Hi Amy Hagerup! Thank you so much! And thank you for reading!
And you are so right! Perseverance is a necessity!
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oh yes – the whole slowing down thing 🙂
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Hi GodlyDivaGal!
Thank you for reading!
Yes, I am learning to slow down! 😂
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love love LOVE this illustration! Also props for running.. something I can never get myself to do. haha
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Hi Chelsea Lynn! Thank you! And thank you for reading!
It took a minute! 😂
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YESSS! This is so hard to remember though when you are in the midst of it. We must run OUR pace though like you said. Good word!
The How-to Guru
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Hi Shan!!! Thank You! And thank you so much for reading! It is a work in progress daily for me to remember! 🙂
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What a great illustration! I actually ran a few races with friends last year. I hate running, but was encouraged to continue (especially the 10K) when I was allowed to break from the group and do my own thing. In life, its definitely good to give yourself the freedom to run at your own pace. 🙂
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Hi Dr.McCleese! Thank you for reading! I like how you said when you broke away from the pack! Then you set your own pace.
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What a great epiphany. There is so much competition and jealousy in this country, it’s so normal to hear that kind of talk in the beginning. I’m glad you were able to learn from it and not compare where you were at to another person’s middle. We all have this big journey set out in front of us and some of us will be ahead or behind at certain times! Thanks for the encouragement and the reminder!
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Hi Steve! Thank you so much and thank you for reading! That is true! Some days we will be ahead or behind.
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So true everyone is different so therefore they have their own walks with Christ. But we are all fighting the good fight and keeping each other on track. Everyone progresses differently and thats ok as long as we are tying to seek Christ.
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Hi Mihaela! Thank you so much for reading! Agreed! We are all fighting the good fight!
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Wow i envy your joy in running. 🙂
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Hi Robbi! Thank you for reading! And it took awhile to get there!
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Great thoughts! God has different plans for us all, and we all have to run in different speeds.
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Hi Kalinann! Thank you! And thank you for reading! Yes he definitely does!
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Love this post. So often we measure our own worth against someone else’s race. We each need to run at our own pace, beautiful words!
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Good Morning! Thank you and thank you for reading! That is something I have to remind myself…
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Such an inspiring piece. I often struggle myself when it comes to running. I sometimes find it hard to stay motivated for longer runs. I’ve found running with my pups has increased the length of time I can run. But staying positive and running for yourself is the most important part!
Stephanie
Adventures in Aussieland
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Hi Stephanie! Thank you so much! And thank you for reading! You are so right! We have to keep running for ourselves!
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Such an important message, we’ve got t do our own things our own way because we’re all our own person at the end of the day!
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Hi Ashley! Thank you for reading! You are so right!
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Brain McKnight FTW! Yeah we really do have to go at our own pace, if you spend too much time looking at what someone else is do you might trip on your own feet.
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Hi Dia! Yes! You are so right!
Thank you for reading!
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Not a paid advertisement, but Rachel Cruze’s book “Love Your Life, Not Theirs” might be a good read for you.
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Hi Caendicott! Thank you for reading! And Thank You for the recommendation! I will check it out!
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Running is a very good exercise but you are right you have to know your limits
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Thank you so much! And you are absolutely right! If not, we could end up injuring ourselves.
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Words of wisdom. I will keep running and working towards my goals.
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Hi Kage2015! Thank you so much! And thank you for reading!
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