I went for a run today and for the first time in a long long time, probably in 18 years, I really paced myself beautifully and used my core to lengthen my stride … it made me feel powerful, it made me feel purposeful and it gave me sore abs!!
I came back and dug out these poor pixelated photos that are mostly unflattering to the world, but they take me back in time in a boat load of memories.
I spent all of my tween into final years of High school, competing for Zimbabwe. My best race was 800m but I also enjoyed running 4th in a 4 x 400m relay team. That feeling of mind and body in perfect harmony, that effortless, almost flying sensation of coming round the final bend onto the 100m straight ahead of the lactic acid build up …. I loved those days. It took years to get the intense competitive edge out of my system. But I finally overcame that and now I run, just for fun, whenever I want to, I walk when I feel like it and stop when my chest burns, and every now and then I have a day like today, where that old athletic genius comes alive again and I’m like a greyhound on a track.
Did you know that greyhounds are trained to chase a mechanical rabbit with the hope that they will never catch it, because if they do, like one dog did on a race track in Florida they become depressed and disillusioned and no longer know what to do. Shame, poor things. It is quite a scary thought though. Am I chasing something that I am exerting hours of my life for, only to be bitterly disillusioned if I finally do get it? It’s a moment for reflection. It’s best to reflect halfway round the track or half way up the ladder or before you hit the rapids or go over the waterfall.
What do you really want in life or out of life? Are your current pursuits reinforcing your core beliefs? Do you know what your core beliefs are?
IDENTIFYING CORE VALUES
These values apply to work and personal life. This is not an exhaustive list—you’re welcome to add your own.
Acceptance Achievement Adventure Affection Altruism Ambition
Appreciation Arts Authenticity Authority Autonomy
Balance Beauty Belonging Caring Celebration Challenge Choice
Collaboration Commitment Community Communication Compassion
Connection Contribution Cooperation Creativity
Democracy
Effectiveness Efficiency Equality Equity Excellence Excitement Expertise
Fame Fairness Faith Family Flexibility Focus Forgiveness Freedom
Friendship Fun
Goals Gratitude Growth
Happiness Health Helping Others High Expectations Honesty
Hope Humility Humor
Imagination Independence Influence Initiative Integrity
Intuition Interdependence
Joy Justice
Kindness Knowledge
Leadership Loyalty
Making a Difference Meaningful Work Mindfulness
Nature Nurturing
Order
Passion Peace Personal Growth Perseverance
Personal-Development Pleasure Positive-Attitude Pride
Productivity
Recognition Reflection Religion Respect Responsibility Results
Risk Taking Romance
Self-Expression Self-Respect Service Sharing Solitude Spirituality
Success Support
Team-Work Time Tolerance Togetherness Tradition Travel Trust
Truth
Unity
Variety
Zest
To find out what makes up your core:
- Circle your top
ten values. - Narrow those
down to five. - Narrow those
down to three
Credit to Elena Aguilar from “Bright Morning” for this list.http://www.brightmorningteam.com
Sebastian Coe – my hero growing up.
As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including the 1500 metres gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984. Held 12 World Records.
Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, CH, KBE, often referred to as Seb Coe or Lord Coe, is a British politician since 2000.
“World records are only borrowed.” – Sebastian Coe
“Throughout my athletic career, the overall goal was always to be a better athlete than I was at the moment – whether next week, next month or next year. The improvement was the goal. The medal was simply the ultimate reward for achieving that goal.”
— Sebastian Coe
It’s our core beliefs that make us strong and it’s our core beliefs that keep us strong. They are what enable us to get up, dust ourselves off and keep running. When we live true to our core beliefs we are able to lengthen our stride and feel purposeful and powerful. The days we live true to our core beliefs are usually the best days of our careers. Knowing what our core beliefs are can help us better understand ourselves and explain why some days feel just down right rotten. Those are usually the days when we are in situations that force us to move away from our core beliefs.
“To thine own self be true.” – Polonius in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”.
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