Ten years ago I started something in order to be involved and make friends. I joined my middle school track team in 7th grade for the simple reason that my parents forced me to get involved. The fall of that same year I decided that it was time for me to abandon my less than mediocre soccer career to join the Cross-Country team. I joined because I was a weak and thin-skinned 12 year old who liked the warm, loving nature of the cross-country coach more than the emotionless, stoic personality of the soccer coach.
I never would have thought that that decision would have shaped my life immensely.
Flash forward almost 10 years. Tomorrow, I will toe the line for my last collegiate cross-country race.
I have been with this sport for 10 years, almost half my life. To say that tomorrow will be an emotional day for me is a HUGE understatement. It will probably be a day I will remember forever, but not only because of the fact that I stuck with a sport for 10 years.
Tomorrow will be a day to remember because of the blessings running has bestowed upon me.
I found my passion and it has provided me with more smiles then I could have ever imagined.
Find your passion and realize that it will never be perfect, but it will be yours.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Defining
I don't know where we went wrong. I'm sure my 8 teammates who were with me along with my coach are all thinking that same thought. The truth is, none of us know where we went wrong. We felt ready and we felt determined. All of us had the same thoughts going into Saturdays race. We were returning 4 of our top 5 from last years 10th place team and we were coming off a solid performance at the conference meet the week before.
We felt like we were the team.
I guess we weren't.
The truth is, this blog post has been written and deleted numerous times. I just don't know what to write. I want to write, but cannot think of what to write. I don't want to talk about everything working out for a reason or you win some you lose some. I don't even want to talk about how running isn't everything or how you cannot define yourself by one moment. I don't want to write about these things because it would be shallow of me to write about something I did not firmly believe in.
Do I think we are good? Yes, I think we are great, but 10 years from now no one will care about what I think. Ten years from now people will only look back at the results and those results say we weren't good.
There are many different variables that go into racing. Variables that to the outside eye are non-existent. Variables such as the 40 mph winds we ran into or the pancake flat course we ran on. Yet none of these variable matter. We did not show up when we needed to. Do I think we can bounce back? Absolutely. We're too strong to not bounce back, but do I think it stings? Hell yes. This will sting for a very long time. This is be in the back of our minds for a very long time.
This will define us until we prove otherwise.
I guess that's how life works too. You are defined by your failures until you have enough success to prove to people otherwise.
We are allowed to be confused. We are allowed to question why, but above all, we must look ahead and prove to those outsiders that we are capable of much much more.
We felt like we were the team.
I guess we weren't.
The truth is, this blog post has been written and deleted numerous times. I just don't know what to write. I want to write, but cannot think of what to write. I don't want to talk about everything working out for a reason or you win some you lose some. I don't even want to talk about how running isn't everything or how you cannot define yourself by one moment. I don't want to write about these things because it would be shallow of me to write about something I did not firmly believe in.
Do I think we are good? Yes, I think we are great, but 10 years from now no one will care about what I think. Ten years from now people will only look back at the results and those results say we weren't good.
There are many different variables that go into racing. Variables that to the outside eye are non-existent. Variables such as the 40 mph winds we ran into or the pancake flat course we ran on. Yet none of these variable matter. We did not show up when we needed to. Do I think we can bounce back? Absolutely. We're too strong to not bounce back, but do I think it stings? Hell yes. This will sting for a very long time. This is be in the back of our minds for a very long time.
This will define us until we prove otherwise.
I guess that's how life works too. You are defined by your failures until you have enough success to prove to people otherwise.
We are allowed to be confused. We are allowed to question why, but above all, we must look ahead and prove to those outsiders that we are capable of much much more.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
History
There's a saying that someone is crazy when they try to solve a problem the same way, each time expecting different results. We live in a world where we are suppose to learn from our mistakes. The best way to ensure history does not repeat itself is to learn from the mistakes we've made in the past. I've made plenty of mistakes in the past, we all have. The key is taking the mistakes we have made and turning them into a learning experience.
I ran the most miserable race of my life, on the biggest day of my life. When I toed the line for the NYS Cross-Country championships I did not know what I was going to do. You see the whole season I had trained for one thing: to make states. What I never thought of was what happens once I do that? I had set my goals and accomplished my goals. Therefore, I was toeing the line without any sense of what I was running for anymore. Yes, I wanted to perform well, but I wasn't half as prepared as I was the races leading to that moment.
Flash forward 4 years. After an eerily similar college running career, I find myself in a similar situation. Similar, but not the same. You see I had a goal this whole season and I was blessed enough to have accomplished that goal. This time around however, my goal had two parts. I planned ahead. I assumed that I would accomplish my first goal and focused solely on the second. When my first goal was in jeopardy, I stepped up to the challenge. Now however, there is no more looking back on that goal. I am here. It is now time to step up again. This time it is to take care of the second goal I have set for myself.
In life, we will always be setting goals. However, we fail to think about what happens once they are accomplished. We should always have multiple goals in our lives. We should always be striving for something. One belief I live by is that when a great accomplishment happens, relish in the moment, but then understand that there are many moments to come. When I was younger, I did not understand this concept. I relished in the one accomplishment I had achieved. I neglected to see that there were more accomplishments around the corner. I just needed to be ready.
Then I was not ready.
Now, I am.
Will you be ready?
I ran the most miserable race of my life, on the biggest day of my life. When I toed the line for the NYS Cross-Country championships I did not know what I was going to do. You see the whole season I had trained for one thing: to make states. What I never thought of was what happens once I do that? I had set my goals and accomplished my goals. Therefore, I was toeing the line without any sense of what I was running for anymore. Yes, I wanted to perform well, but I wasn't half as prepared as I was the races leading to that moment.
Flash forward 4 years. After an eerily similar college running career, I find myself in a similar situation. Similar, but not the same. You see I had a goal this whole season and I was blessed enough to have accomplished that goal. This time around however, my goal had two parts. I planned ahead. I assumed that I would accomplish my first goal and focused solely on the second. When my first goal was in jeopardy, I stepped up to the challenge. Now however, there is no more looking back on that goal. I am here. It is now time to step up again. This time it is to take care of the second goal I have set for myself.
In life, we will always be setting goals. However, we fail to think about what happens once they are accomplished. We should always have multiple goals in our lives. We should always be striving for something. One belief I live by is that when a great accomplishment happens, relish in the moment, but then understand that there are many moments to come. When I was younger, I did not understand this concept. I relished in the one accomplishment I had achieved. I neglected to see that there were more accomplishments around the corner. I just needed to be ready.
Then I was not ready.
Now, I am.
Will you be ready?
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Streaks
We sat at our MAAC Championship banquet and watched the Iona College Gaels walk up on stage to collect their championship trophy. We also sat there and listened to the MAAC commissioner comment about how it was their 21st consecutive MAAC title. For twenty one straight years they have won the MAAC title. That means that from the year I was born until today Iona has never lost a conference championship. It is a streak that I acknowledge is much more impressive then it is given credit for. However, as impressed by the streak as I am, there is always a common theme among streaks...They have to end.
They have won for 21 straight years, yet I could only sit there and think about the one year they don't win. I have never in my lifetime seen them lose, yet all I could think about was the one moment when they do. People might think I am crazy. I would most likely agree with them. I am crazy, but you have to be crazy in order to believe in what many people might call the impossible. All streaks end. It isn't a crazy concept that I've made up in my head. It is fact and it has numerous real-life examples that back it up.
Why am I writing about this? I'm writing about it because there will always be times in our lives when we feel down. There will always be times when we believe someone we work with, are friends with, or related to, gets everything they want. We will sit there an wonder why not us? We will wonder why, after all the hard work we put in, we are not getting what we deserve.
This streak has taught me one thing. What is going to happen that one day it comes to an end? Will we be too busy complaining that the opportunity passes us by? I've always believed that complacency is the enemy of victory. When you get what you want over and over again, how badly are you going to continue wanting it? How badly are you going to continue working for it? Sooner or later you will get lazy and assume it will just happen. On the other hand, when you are constantly denied something you feel is rightfully yours, that is when you are at your strongest. When you are the ones fighting for what you want, that is when you believe the most.
All streaks have to come to an end, but we need to be ready for the moment they do. We need to persevere and continue to inch forward step by step. It may take 10 years. It may take 20 years, but one day that streak will end and when it does we need to be ready.
Greatness is not a gift. Greatness is achieved.
They have won for 21 straight years, yet I could only sit there and think about the one year they don't win. I have never in my lifetime seen them lose, yet all I could think about was the one moment when they do. People might think I am crazy. I would most likely agree with them. I am crazy, but you have to be crazy in order to believe in what many people might call the impossible. All streaks end. It isn't a crazy concept that I've made up in my head. It is fact and it has numerous real-life examples that back it up.
Why am I writing about this? I'm writing about it because there will always be times in our lives when we feel down. There will always be times when we believe someone we work with, are friends with, or related to, gets everything they want. We will sit there an wonder why not us? We will wonder why, after all the hard work we put in, we are not getting what we deserve.
This streak has taught me one thing. What is going to happen that one day it comes to an end? Will we be too busy complaining that the opportunity passes us by? I've always believed that complacency is the enemy of victory. When you get what you want over and over again, how badly are you going to continue wanting it? How badly are you going to continue working for it? Sooner or later you will get lazy and assume it will just happen. On the other hand, when you are constantly denied something you feel is rightfully yours, that is when you are at your strongest. When you are the ones fighting for what you want, that is when you believe the most.
All streaks have to come to an end, but we need to be ready for the moment they do. We need to persevere and continue to inch forward step by step. It may take 10 years. It may take 20 years, but one day that streak will end and when it does we need to be ready.
Greatness is not a gift. Greatness is achieved.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
End of the story
I went to watch a play today with my first grade class. Between telling them to be quiet and listening to them laugh hysterically at the butt of a baboon costume, I didn't really get to watch a lot of the play. However, there were certain parts I did catch and these parts had me thinking about the true message the play was attempting to get across.
The young boy in the story was on a journey to bring back the water supply to the world. He was chosen by some higher power to be the one to bring back the water supply. Throughout the play his journey brings him to collect certain tokens in order to find the heart of the sun. Once he finds the heart of the sun, he learned he needs to dive into this giant tree in order to complete his journey. At first he is hesitant and he asks his community leader what will happen to him. The community leader simply responds that he does not know. That part of the story has not been written yet.
That line really got me thinking. The end of our stories have not been written. We do not know what will happen tomorrow, or next week, or next year. However, one aspect the play touched upon was the fact that the young boy had a choice as to the direction the rest of his story would go. We are all faced with decisions and I think often times we neglect to see the importance of some of these decision. By making these decisions we are writing the next chapter in our lives.
I've been struggling lately with a certain chapter in my story. To be honest, I kept concerning myself with how other peoples stories were going. I forgot that regardless of how their stories go, I have the power to control mine. Just like the little boy in the fable I have a choice.
We all have a choice. We all have the power to shape our own stories. Sometimes we just don't realize it
The young boy in the story was on a journey to bring back the water supply to the world. He was chosen by some higher power to be the one to bring back the water supply. Throughout the play his journey brings him to collect certain tokens in order to find the heart of the sun. Once he finds the heart of the sun, he learned he needs to dive into this giant tree in order to complete his journey. At first he is hesitant and he asks his community leader what will happen to him. The community leader simply responds that he does not know. That part of the story has not been written yet.
That line really got me thinking. The end of our stories have not been written. We do not know what will happen tomorrow, or next week, or next year. However, one aspect the play touched upon was the fact that the young boy had a choice as to the direction the rest of his story would go. We are all faced with decisions and I think often times we neglect to see the importance of some of these decision. By making these decisions we are writing the next chapter in our lives.
I've been struggling lately with a certain chapter in my story. To be honest, I kept concerning myself with how other peoples stories were going. I forgot that regardless of how their stories go, I have the power to control mine. Just like the little boy in the fable I have a choice.
We all have a choice. We all have the power to shape our own stories. Sometimes we just don't realize it
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Anger
Anger never solved anything. Anger never made you feel better. Anger never made you successful.
Many people could disagree with these statements. There are many people out there who feel anger is a productive. I am not one of those people.
I had one of those moments last night where a simple conversation profoundly effects the way you view yourself and your life. I had this conversation with someone who has known me for a while now and had the urge to tell me his philosophy on life. He simply sat down and told me "anger does not get you anywhere." He was 100 % accurate.
We all get angry. Whether we want to or not, it happens. It usually raises our heartbeat, increased our blood pressure and stresses us out even more. When we act impulsively based on anger, the end result usually isn't what we had hoped. Anger destroys friendships, ruins families, and makes enemies. It is an emotion that can destroy us, as I noticed it was destroying me.
I get angry over things I cannot control in my life. I get angry over people who are late, people who slack off, people who complain, people who brag, etc. Not only do I get angry, but I let these people impact my life by bothering me beyond all ends. I suddenly realized after the conversation I had last night that I cannot control how people act. If someone wants to be late, then they will be late. If someone wants to slack off, then they will slack off. If someone wants to complain, then they will complain. It is life. It isn't fair. People will always do things we do not understand, do not agree with, and do not enjoy. It is life and in life you can only worry about your own actions. You can only control how you act and how you feel. Why get angry over the actions of other people? One day they will pay for being late, or pay for slacking off, or pay for complaining. Letting the anger for these people impact your day, even if it's for a minute, is a waste of your time. Let it go. You are who you are and they are who they are. You cannot control that.
Anger will never solve a problem.
Many people could disagree with these statements. There are many people out there who feel anger is a productive. I am not one of those people.
I had one of those moments last night where a simple conversation profoundly effects the way you view yourself and your life. I had this conversation with someone who has known me for a while now and had the urge to tell me his philosophy on life. He simply sat down and told me "anger does not get you anywhere." He was 100 % accurate.
We all get angry. Whether we want to or not, it happens. It usually raises our heartbeat, increased our blood pressure and stresses us out even more. When we act impulsively based on anger, the end result usually isn't what we had hoped. Anger destroys friendships, ruins families, and makes enemies. It is an emotion that can destroy us, as I noticed it was destroying me.
I get angry over things I cannot control in my life. I get angry over people who are late, people who slack off, people who complain, people who brag, etc. Not only do I get angry, but I let these people impact my life by bothering me beyond all ends. I suddenly realized after the conversation I had last night that I cannot control how people act. If someone wants to be late, then they will be late. If someone wants to slack off, then they will slack off. If someone wants to complain, then they will complain. It is life. It isn't fair. People will always do things we do not understand, do not agree with, and do not enjoy. It is life and in life you can only worry about your own actions. You can only control how you act and how you feel. Why get angry over the actions of other people? One day they will pay for being late, or pay for slacking off, or pay for complaining. Letting the anger for these people impact your day, even if it's for a minute, is a waste of your time. Let it go. You are who you are and they are who they are. You cannot control that.
Anger will never solve a problem.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Best Laid Plans
Sometimes we make a plan. We have a perfect line between where we are and where we want to be. Many times our plan does not go the way we had expected. I will admit I am suffering from a plan that isn't exactly going the way I had envisioned it. However, I realized after some heavy thinking that maybe my plan isn't as far off the path as I had imagined.
I'd prefer to keep the actual plan to myself, but I will tell you that from the start it didn't go the way I expected. I had, in my opinion, done all that I had needed to do in order for the plan to go smoothly, but right from the start it was out of whack. However, regardless of where my path is going I can still see the goal at the end of the tunnel. I always just assumed that my plan was the best plan in order to help me accomplish what I need to accomplish. I suddenly realize that maybe there were other paths I could take that could all end with the same result. Maybe I had missed an extra variable along the way. Maybe my plan wasn't the right plan.
We all set plans and we all realize that they often do not go according to plan. Yet what if they are going according to plan. What if the path we're on, though it might not be the path we expected, is actually the right path for what we hope to accomplish. Often times we forget that there is more then one way to get to a destination. We'd all like to take the fastest route, but we forget that sometimes the back roads can be more scenic, more beautiful, more of an adventure.
There are multiple ways to get to your goals. Trust the path you're on.
I'd prefer to keep the actual plan to myself, but I will tell you that from the start it didn't go the way I expected. I had, in my opinion, done all that I had needed to do in order for the plan to go smoothly, but right from the start it was out of whack. However, regardless of where my path is going I can still see the goal at the end of the tunnel. I always just assumed that my plan was the best plan in order to help me accomplish what I need to accomplish. I suddenly realize that maybe there were other paths I could take that could all end with the same result. Maybe I had missed an extra variable along the way. Maybe my plan wasn't the right plan.
We all set plans and we all realize that they often do not go according to plan. Yet what if they are going according to plan. What if the path we're on, though it might not be the path we expected, is actually the right path for what we hope to accomplish. Often times we forget that there is more then one way to get to a destination. We'd all like to take the fastest route, but we forget that sometimes the back roads can be more scenic, more beautiful, more of an adventure.
There are multiple ways to get to your goals. Trust the path you're on.
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