One day in my late-30’s, I had a friend ask me to run a 5K with her. Out of the blue. My response was something along the lines of “Hell no! I’m not a runner.” She said that maybe I could be.
Running is hard, but it is, for me, ridiculously harder on the uphill. Running on flat surfaces isn’t “easy” per se and it definitely gets your heart rate up, but when I encounter even the smallest hill, my heart rate soars and I generally begin feeling like I’d be better off just stopping and writhing on the running trail. The uphill is where I decide oftentimes that I want to quit running, not for the day, but for ever. Do you hear me people? For the rest of my life. I want to quit and become a couch potato. I want to quit everything about the exercise world – I am no good, I think. I am certainly not snazzy. I am terrible. I WANT TO QUIT. And then I reach the top – while I was trying to decide if I am just going to be done, I reach the top – the ground levels out and then I begin to descend. And I feel like a million dollars! Woot! Look at me – I’m a runner! I am doing it – I am so incredibly happy and proud of myself. Maybe I kind of like running.
Never quit on the uphill. Never quit or make major life decisions on the uphill, because, guess what, folks….the downhill is always just around the corner. Granted, sometimes those hills are excruciatingly long – massively exhausting and your legs will burn. You can slow down and walk if you need to. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other foot – get yourself up that hill. Because the downhill will be worth it.
Life is full of hard times – times where we think we won’t find the top of the hill – we can’t see the top of the hill and it’s all we can do to keep propelling ourselves forward. We desperately want to quit and maybe we do quit…for a while. Maybe we quit running and we sit down and cry. Maybe we quit running and we stop, gasping for air. Maybe we quit running but only for a minute. Because once we have caught our breath and once we have calmed down and cleared some of the emotion, we realize we are safe, and not only are we safe, but we are safer just continuing to move forward. We must keep going and we do.
We might be telling ourselves stories that we will fail. We might be telling ourselves that we shouldn’t pretend to be a runner – that we are too old or too weak or too young or too big. We might fall into comparing ourselves with others, or beating ourselves up with self doubt – and we might quit. But we are still standing right smack dab in the middle of this hill. We have to go somewhere. Maybe it is now in the figurative world that we start drinking to numb the pain. Maybe it is now in the figurative world when we stuff food in our faces or go spend money we don’t have. Maybe it is now that we turn the TV on and just binge watch mindless shows. Maybe it is now that we think it’s too hard to try with our spouses, our friends, our kids, our jobs – it’s all useless anyway. But yet, we have to move forward. We are still on the hill and taking any of these actions isn’t helping us get home. It isn’t helping us get to better times. It isn’t helping us at all. In fact, we are now stuck right here on the hill, walking slowly up and then maybe slowly down, but never making progress in any real direction. Then the rainstorm hits. We get absolutely obliterated by the storm – there is rain and thunder and lightning. We are soaked to the bone and freezing cold. We need help now – we can’t do this alone. If you’re lucky, somebody will happen along up this hill and offer you a hand to stand up. They might then join you as you walk up the hill (or did you head downward)? But at the very worst, the hill will be deserted. And eventually we have to decide to get up, brush ourselves off and keep walking. We have places to go. So, don’t quit on the uphill – keep pushing through to get the glory of the downhill. Trust me, it’s right around the corner.
Question: When have you been tempted to quit on the uphill? Were you able to keep going and experience the joy of accomplishment?
Exercise: Once per day this week, when things get hard, write down what you will do to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
