Sometimes You Lose Momentum
You ever get super excited about something and dive in headfirst with all the energy and enthusiasm in the world only to look up a while down the road and realize that somewhere along the way you just stopped? You might not be able to pinpoint the time, or place, where the power of that initial excitement stopped moving you forward but it did; it did stop. Sort of like the great idea for this educational blog on our website that started off fun and there was a long list of great ideas to write about, but as a lot of things do, stuff got in the way. Distractions come along and you put the task off for a day. It’s just a day and you will get to it tomorrow when you have less going on. Nine months later you realize you forgot about your blog! Forget losing momentum, you never truly got started.
I think this parallels a lot with running, among a long list of other things in life, but this is a blog about running so let’s focus there. Many of us start a training program or just decide it’s time to get ourselves moving and we do so with wild excitement, some trepidation, and usually a bit of reckless effort. The key is that we started and that is always the first step so you’re good to go right? Well maybe for a while that can be the case but something has to keep that momentum going or you’re going to hit a wall that won’t be one you push through. When those walls come along, and you stop in front of them, it can be difficult to decide to do something about it. Sometimes it might feel pointless or like it doesn’t matter but it does. It matters because you matter and if nothing else, that should be reason enough to get going again.
The great part of it is that it doesn’t matter that you stopped, took too long of a break, or lost your progress. All that matters is that you realize it and decide to do something about it. My entire life I have been told that “nothing worth doing is easy” and the older I get the more that seems to be the case. So don’t be disheartened that you lost your way. Be proud of the fact that you recognized it and then do something about it. Getting started again is just that, starting again. It’s not painful and it doesn’t really mean anything. It doesn’t make you less of a person or put you a point of judged failure. It’s just getting back to doing something that you used to do.
If you’re reading this and you realize that your new year’s resolution lost it’s resolve, your once super steady effort isn’t so steady, or that your goals were failed to be met, I say, “who cares”. It’s not what you did yesterday that will define you. It’s what you do tomorrow that will lead you on. So, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get back out there. Head back towards doing whatever it was that you set out to do and know that if you stumble you can always get back up.
The road to hell may be paved with good intentions but the path to success is built on accepting failures.