“Hey Guys!! Check this out!!!”
Can you remember when you were a kid and made a new discovery digging in the dirt; or completed your first “Ollie;” or upon reaching the top of the trail before your friends… and seeing the sun coming up over the lake, you are unable to contain yourself… you look back and blurt out… “Hey Guys! Check this out!”
Well today is one of those days, as I mosey down the trail “hunting for success” during my personal re-branding effort, I’ve discovered something that I wasn’t really looking for… but now that I’ve experienced it… I see how crucial it is for finding “success,” and moving forward in my re-branding effort, it’s like looking for Tag-Alders when grouse hunting, you find the “Tags,” and you’ll find grouse.
This is the boring part of any article… I would like to walk you through the details of what happened; and how it became apparent to me… so that… you can see plainly… how it occurred… and how you can identify it in your own experience… if you haven’t already.
“There I was… one man.. alone…”
Nah, it wasn’t that dramatic.
I was simply running.
I’ve shared in the past that I use The United States Marine Corps, Physical Fitness Test, as my standard for my health and exercise program.
I recently finished my 2021, new year test, of Pull-Ups, Ab Crunches, and a 3 mile run.
Did good!
But it was during the run that I experienced… for the first time… what I think true VICTORY is.
It’s not doing good; feeling happy; or even WINNING! Or owning a classic Caddy.
Let me start out by saying, “I hate running. I don’t have a running program.”
But it’s part of the test. And I have tested myself against the 3 miles for the last couple of years.
I’ve never completed it… running… I’ve always gotten shin splints… I’ve always overheated… I’ve always ran out of breath… I would run at the beginning and the end… in the middle, not so much… “but I was out there,” that’s what I would tell myself anyway.
I didn’t have any high expectations for this run, the test is on the schedule, the test needs to be taken, that’s it.
I did want to do my best, so I did some PREPARATION… I timed the run for early evening when my energy level is at it’s highest, and I also did a proper warm up routine in my basement work out space.
Now here is where I would like to point out… YOU may know all, or, a lot of this already… it may not be new to you… but bear with me.
When I was nice and warmed up I hit the stop watch and headed out.
My oldest son, who has done some running training, informed me about trying a shorter stride, to combat the shin splints.
I have been able to PRACTICE that step at my 12 hour a day, day job, that is very aerobic in nature.
Along with that short step at work, I’ve been able to PRACTICE breathing through the nose… as COVID protocols for my work have us being masked up all day, which has allowed my oxygen intake to increase. I also need this technique while I box.
And my strength conditioning has been focused on my “lower half” adding strength to my legs, because I can PRACTICE my squats at work, as I have multiple times throughout the night for my work that requires me to do “squat like movements” and stair climbs.
“And we’re off!”
The first few hundred yards had my legs tense up a bit, so I backed off the pace a little. But stayed running.
At mile 1… I was feeling pretty good, strong, with no shin splints, and my breathing was nice and regular.
At mile 2… I was like, “Alright, here we go! I feel great!”
Then it happened.
At mile 2 and 2/10.
The little voice chimed in, a bit subdued in tone, but very clear… “Let’s take a break.”
What? Why would I do that?
“Let’s take a break. Catch our breath, and finish strong.”
Why would I do that? I’m not sore, there’s no pain, I’m breathing great… and feel strong!
“Let’s stop, and take a break.”
NO.
And there it is… VICTORY! In two small letters… N.. O..
I finished strong. Almost giddy. (No it wasn’t a runners high, I didn’t run long enough for that.)
What I experienced was VICTORY over “the self.”
And I could see how, in the past, listening to that voice, even though what it said wasn’t “bad” or “negative” but it wasn’t what was BEST! allowed me to MISS the mark on so many things in my life, and other attempts at “being successful.”
I thought I won; I thought I done good; finally, success!! Time 21:15.86, that falls into the 41-45 yr old age bracket… and I ain’t no 45.
One thing I’ve learned over the course of “hunting for success” is that it doesn’t matter if you have a good day or a bad day… you need to do a thorough review of “What the heck, how did that happen?”
And, as I thought it through, one overwhelming feeling was very evident… it was new to me… and that was…
FREEDOM.
I couldn’t recall that emotion at all… the closest I could come was when I won the little league baseball championship when I was 10 years old.
And then this thought… found in Galatians 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery.”
I wasn’t a slave to that voice, today.
I had the ability, and the authority, to tell that voice, “NO.”
And I was “free” to choose “THE BEST” for me. Was I hot? Sweaty? Sore? Sure.
But I’ve never felt stronger!
And now… I’ve seen it… I’ve tasted the fruit… I know it’s good… I can now recognize it! And just like with my rifle… if I can see it… I can hit it!!!
Good thing too. Because… the voice doesn’t leave.
On my very next run it started in… way sooner. It said, early in the day, “Your kinda tired today, we could run tomorrow.”
NO.
Part of my re-branding has me looking for “my unique message” for the world.
I keep coming back to APPLICATION. How do we apply what we learn in books, or from others, into our lives?
How do we “live it” in order to UNDERSTAND IT?
There is always a gap between an idea and an experience. So how can I help?
I find the books that I read leave me with a gap, a gap of “how do I apply this idea?”
I’ve applied, and incorporated… journaling; specific book reading; routine exercise; the Stoic Philosophy of ‘the obstacle is the way’; a slower approach to learning how to be an author; new breathing techniques… and they all came to bear on that run, when I was clearly facing a test of a different color… an enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded over by philosophy… successful steps just out of reach…
steps seemingly unable to be put into practice… those very things, each individual thing… which, each by itself… are APPLICATIONS… each being an individual stepping stone along the journey.
Unable to be put into practice… until now.
In VICTORY… learning that each step is a test… each step is a preparation… each step, a practice step… each step a daily VICTORY… each step making you stronger, each step, a step toward FREEDOM.
It’s pretty awesome! Not the feeling. Feelings wear off.
The KNOWING… knowing that I can repeat those steps, over and over, to get to where I need to be, in any endeavor that I take on… just like on that 3 mile run, that had kicked my butt… until now!
I’d like to leave you with this… if you missed it.
We have the authority to tell that negative voice, “NO,” and if we’ve been diligent in our steps… we then have the strength to say, “NO,” and mean it!
And in any life situation we can learn to… “Stand firm then…” knowing… Victory!
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