Should I go Left or Right?
Some thoughts from my 50 mile trail race.
I am at mile 30 of my 50 mile trail race. At this point, I have been running for a while now, it is getting warmer. My left foot and toes are swelling up and every step is causing serious pain. Right knee is tweaking and causing some issues. I am trying to run on this trail of deep sand and my shoes and socks keep collecting more and more of this sand.
I see a sign up ahead. I stop and stare at it. It says:
50 K. turn right. 50 Miler, turn left.
If I turn right, I only have 1 or 2 miles left and I can be done. If I turn left, I have 20 miles left.
In the 30 seconds of staring at that sign, I had a plethora of emotions emerge:
Why am I doing this? Why should I keep going? Is it worth it? What will people think if I quit? What will I think of me if I quit? You are in pain, it is ok to stop. You signed up for the 50 miler, you have to finish. Just stop, you don’t want to hurt yourself. Man up and finish!!
I took a left and ended up finishing the last 20 miles.
As I look back, the true motivating thing that kept me going was what I would think about myself. It was not what anyone else would think. I wanted to keep the commitment that I made to myself more than anything.
Got me thinking…
How many “signs” are we faced in life? Do we go left or right? So many decisions we make every day, many of which we choose to keep us in our comfort zones.
My challenge to you is: do you know what decisions you will be the happiest with? Are you aware of what your true beliefs and virtues are? Are you driven by what others think or are you driven by what you think?
These are important questions. I spend a lot of time talking to myself in the mirror and trying to truly understand who I am and who I want to be. This has given me the awareness I need.
Every time I am faced with the sign to go left or right, I know which direction to go.