"Work for a cause, not for applause; Live life to express, not to impress; Don't strive to make your presence noticed, just your absence felt."
What do we allow to motivate us? Are we trying to compete, to win, to impress others, to get notice/praise/etc etc etc? I think we'd all be lying if we didn't admit to one or more of those reasons at least some of the time. But honestly, why do we do that? The less I think about so-and-so's massive book deal, or that person's 6 week "journey" from querying to agent offer to book offer, or how fast someone else ran the same race as me on saturday, or how much cuter those pants look on my sister when she borrowed them than me... the LESS I focus on all of the comparisons, and instead focus on MY journey, the happier I am.
So I don't have a book deal yet. That's okay. I am learning, I am growing, I am being forced to continue to come up with new ideas and grow and stretch as an author. I am not giving up and someday I WILL be published.
So my journey is taking longer than I'd hoped. That's okay. It will only make my success WHEN it comes that much sweeter. I will not give up and there will come a day when we get to go out to celebrate MY good news. But for now, I will continue to celebrate the good news my friends get because I am so happy for them when their dreams come true!
So we posted a pretty "slow" time at the half marathon on Saturday if I were to compare it to others. So what? I got to go run 13.1 miles with MY MOM! Who is past the halfway point in life (most likely) and can still get up and go do that. Isn't she amazing?? I think so. I loved running with her. I loved accomplishing something like that with her. And my aunt, too. How cool is she for the exact same reasons?
My Achilles tendon is okay, and we finished 13.1 miles with barely any training and ten of the minutes on our time was my fault because, well, let's just say I had some plumbing issues. Heh. But the point is, if I take away the urge to compare myself to others at the race, I am left with only the feeling of accomplishment that we DID IT, that I even had enough energy to sprint the last half mile (and only then because they actually, literally started pushing me to leave them and "finish strong" with a sprint [I refused to leave them before that even though they both kept telling me to--that wasn't the point, I was there to do the race with them! And they waited for me when I had the aforementioned "issues" ahem]). I was able to do something amazing with my mom and my aunt who I love very much. And that's the coolest feeling ever. Much better than posting a PR by myself.
And let's not even go to the part where my sister looks better in my pants.
The point of this rambling post is that we all just need to stop worrying so much about what other people say, do, or think. We are all on our own personal journey. We are all seeking after happiness. Every day we have the opportunity to realize all the good that we do or look for all of our faults or shortcomings both real or perceived. There is plenty to be found on both sides. But I've heard it said that what you focus on becomes bigger. So I'm going to focus on what I do that's good. How about you?
What have you done recently that you're proud of?
1 comment:
Excellent post Sara! Congrats on the half-marathon (so cool that you did it with your mom and aunt)!
I have a hard time not comparing myself. It's something that depresses me, so you'd think I wouldn't do it. But I have to agree with you. The journey is a personal one.
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