We are in a Marathon!

As I was rounding off the interview with this amazing woman I was interviewing to write a case study for our upcoming book, I was so intrigued by her calmness that I wanted to throw in a curve ball with my next question and see how she would react, so I asked; ‘I know you have done well, but you have friends who are clearly more ambitious than you are and seem to have gone further, doesn’t that challenge you?’ She smiled at me and responded; ‘We are all running different races and I don’t compare myself with anyone, instead I remind myself that I am in a marathon’. Her answer astounded me and inspired this blog post…………

I love to run (or jog)! And it all started over 15years ago when I suddenly started gaining weight after I had been called a ‘skinny chicken’ for most of my secondary school days. I never used to be the athletic, but I knew I needed to do something about the weight, so one day; I wore my trainers and created a trail for myself. It’s been an interesting running experience ever since. However, every great runner knows that if you haven’t run a marathon, you are still an amateur! So I decided that I was going to run a marathon and commenced my research on what it took and I was shocked at my findings;

A marathon is a long distance endurance race which has an official distance of 42.195 kilometers’ which is equivalent to 26miles and 385yards. The world record time to complete a Marathon is 2hours, 3 minutes and 23 seconds and for the average Joe like me, it would probably take much longer. When I found out how long the distance was; I decided to aim for the half marathon instead, at least like they say; half bread is better than none!

As I thought about what the woman in the interview said; I realize that we are all in a Marathon called life. Like in the real Marathon, sometimes you get a bust of energy and you pick up your pace and run faster or sometimes you have no energy at all, your body has burnt up all the sugar and you are running on will power and discipline from months of training.

From my years of running, I have observed a phenomenon; as I am steadily beating down my trail, a runner overtakes me in full speed! When I was new at running, I used to be tempted to pick up my speed, but as I forced myself to maintain my pace and keep my energy so I can reach my set finish line, I usually see that ‘fast runner’ somewhere in front exhausted from using up all their energy by applying so much speed in the beginning of their race and I steadily overtake them and make it to the finish line.
Life is a marathon and like the bible says; the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. So in approaching the Marathon of life, I have learnt the following valuable lessons:

Start with your end goal in mind: What do you want to achieve or have achieved by the time you are done in this journey called life? The truth is I see different people running with their eyes sideways looking at how others are running and trying to run another person’s race. Stop looking out to find your goal, look inwards and determine your end goal.

Know your capacity: Once you have decided what your end goal is, know your capacity. Know what you are able to do or capable of doing. The truth is that we are all limited resources no matter how hard we want to push ourselves. So to thy self be true. Someone might have the capacity to work 18hours a day and you have the capacity to give 9 hours and you are tired. Be true to yourself and determine your capacity from the start. And once you determine your capacity, don’t try to be like anyone else. To each God had given his/her own.

Pace yourself: Now that you know your capacity, create a pace that fits you. In the book ‘great by choice’ Jim Collins featured Great companies who applied what he called the 20% rule. The rule was that they would only grow at 20% annually. They were not moved by their competitions that were growing at astronomical heights, they focused on growth that was sustainable and by pacing themselves they outperformed their competition. Once again, to thyself be true!

Push yourself to the finish line: When I run, there are days when I am really tired and I almost fill like giving up and stopping, but I always tell myself ‘you are a finisher’. In this race of life, there would be times when you want to stop or quit or just give it all up, but don’t give up. Like a popular preacher says; it’s not over until it’s over! Don’t give up before the finish line. Sometimes you might need to take a breather, but as long as you have set a correct pace, keep at it. If you haven’t set a correct pace, adjust your pace and keep going.
Remember, we are in a Marathon and you would win if you don’t quit! That’s what I love about Marathon’s; everyone who finishes within the time limit gets a medal!

Love and Peace
Tale
N.B: I think this would bless someone you know, so kindly share…………..

There is more to your life!

I have been on a deliberate writing hiatus from this blog because I was working on a book project. I set strict timelines for myself and thankfully the major writing is done…

I also had two wonderful weeks of family holidays/wedding celebration in Hamburg and London. For me it was a privilege to see a new country as I had never been to Germany and as I took in the serenity of the resort we stayed in Hamburg; I knew there was more to life!

I have suffered quite a number of setbacks in my lifetime and sometimes, when you are in the midst of a challenging situation, all your energies are focused on dealing with it that you forget there is more to life than what you are going through.

One of the popular sayings that have kept me sane through my toughest times is; ‘it is darkest before dawn’ and truth be told, it is really darkest before the first rays of morning light seeps in. And the challenge about being in absolute darkness is that at that moment, your brain is seeking light to focus on to lead it out of the darkness and it doesn’t seem to find the light!

 When I was a little girl, I used to play a game I themed; walking in the dark. The game was simply me closing my eyes when they took the light at night and trying to trace my steps to my room from wherever I was in the house. When I first started the game, I would try to open my eyes very wide in the darkness to seek some light to show me direction, but after some time, I realized it was not working. So I decided to start closing my eyes and looking for direction from my memory. I focused on using my hand as a guide and as I felt my way through the darkness, my hand sent signals to my brain and it drew directions from the memory of me being in that location when it was brighter. As I walked through the dark applying this method, I always found the way to my room.

Life can be like this sometimes….. When we are in the midst of deadlines, a challenging situation, a missed opportunity, a significant delay or even heart break, it seems like we are at the end of our ropes and there is no way out of it. But that’s just the voice of our circumstances or current situation speaking to us. Even if you can’t see a way out physically, you can do any or all of the following;

1.      Close your eyes and reach into your memory: Chances are you have been through what you are currently going through and overcome it. So reach into that memory of your past victory and draw strength from it.

2.      Draw inspiration from someone’s testimony: Even if you haven’t encountered this situation before, you must have heard of someone who went through what you are currently going through and overcame. Draw inspiration from that testimony and let it encourage your heart and give you hope.

3.      Keep an attitude of gratitude: One of the secrets I have learnt and I have spoken about severally in this blog is an attitude of gratitude. It is easy for us to find things to complain about, but if we channel that energy to look for things to be grateful for, our lives would be happier and more hopeful. I have also noticed that when I make a deliberate effort to be grateful, I keep getting more reasons to be grateful.

There is more to life than where you are today. Don’t let your current circumstances and situation put a full stop to your dreams. Always make sure that your dreams remain greater than your memories.

Love and Peace

            Tale