Be the Best You Can Be

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up.  The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." - Thomas Edison

This quote makes me think of my after pregnancy weight.  How discouraging was it the first time you weighed yourself after giving birth and find you didn't even lose the 7+ pounds the baby weighed!  Really?  Even after that workout?  I remembered with Will I gained 25 pounds and with Nathan 50!  I tried all of the fad diets to lose the weight and would get within 5 pounds of my pregnancy weight and plateau.  I'd give up trying after one to two weeks, convincing myself that was the price I would pay and I was not as young as I sued to be so I needed to accept that and be happy.  I used this mental game every time I gained enough weight that my clothes were no longer fitting.  I'd go on a fad diet for a few weeks until I plateaued but my clothes were fitting comfortably and then give up.  When most of us try something new we go gung ho and then fizzle out when we don't see the immediate results.  Instead we look at it as a failure instead of persevering forward.

We all have those demons in our head that tell us we are not good enough.  Not fast enough.  Not smart enough.  We're not going to succeed, so why try?  I was reading my Run with God Devotional and they were talking about establishing a baseline--without a baseline we have nothing to improve on.  Once we have that baseline we can then use that as a goal to improve on.   We are all different and even if we are not the overall fastest runner or the number one employee or the "Biggest Loser"--if we are improving and not giving up we are succeeding.  You are being the best you can be.

I have a running friend who when she races starts setting herself up for failure by convincing herself that she's already lost, so why even try? Our conscience/minds can be evil when we are trying to be the best we can be.  It's important for us to think positively through our process.  Set small goals for ourselves and reward ourselves and give ourselves pats on the back when we achieve those milestones.  Always keep in mind that the glass is half full and never half empty.  Every race in life is different and we need to take those challenges with a positive outlook.  Your main competitor in life is YOU!

I like this quote from Karen Armstrong and you can apply to other avenues besides running.

"Running has taken me in and continues to comfort, heal and challenge me in all kinds of magical ways.  I am not a 'good runner' because I am me.  I am a good 'me' because I am a runner."