“There are physical, external injuries, such as bruises, and there are internal injuries, such as shin splints.”
“There are also mental injuries.”
“Yeah, but that’s a whole nother thing that’s not going to get fixed.”
My concern for the race on the race on Sunday was 1) What will happen to my foot if I run on it while I still have tendonitis, and 2) I haven’t run in 3 weeks; can I actually complete it? So, of course, those were that on which I focused for the whole week, mentally preparing myself to overcome those two things.
Come race day, the string on one of my sandals break. What a curveball. I did not see that coming. I was too busy focusing on the other stuff, both of which happened to be no problem (my tendonitis actually seemed to have gone away during the race and hasn’t come back). So, I end up running in socks and acquiring “some of the worse blisters [the trainer's] ever seen.”
This just goes to show that one just cannot know what to expect. ”Expect the unexpected” is cliche; I want to say, “Embrace the unexpected.” Trying to predict the future will limit the possible experiences; playing with the circumstances in which you find yourself means you will always have fun.
Just go for it. When I am faced with having decide between doing something or not doing something, I will probably do it. Why wait? How often have you waited, thinking, “No, not today. I’ll have another chance tomorrow,” only to have that chance not come by again. ”Kenny, don’t run the half marathon; you’re injured. Just run it next year.” That, to me, is more preposterous than taking 15 classes in one semester.
Of course, this is relative, and sometimes works the opposite way. When faced with whether to “move on” or “wait”, I kind of picked the middle ground. It’s somewhat contradictory for a statement that emphasizes not waiting to say, “Don’t wait to wait.” *mind blown* It is all relative to the situation, and what blinds us from making smart choices in these situations is something called realism.
I used to be called a realist (as opposed to pessimist or optimist). It was somewhat true; I was a very practical person. I saw things as they were – as objectively as possible – and accepted them as such. Then I realized that that was dumb. Why accept things as they are? Unless if the essence of everything is such that it all conforms to your needs and desires (which it doesn’t unless if you’re God (but if you’re God, then you just are, but that’s another discussion) ). Therefore, if things will not change for you, you have the change things for yourself. Mary Engelbreit said, “If you don’t like something, change it; if you can’t change it, change your attitude about it.” Make things work. Don’t just optimistically hope that things will work. Take action.
Limiting mindsets are what hold us back. Do you know what you want? Go get it. Don’t wait. Have fun. If you fail, at least you had fun and probably learned something. How do I survive taking so many classes? I make all of them fun.
The Rolling Stones said, “You can’t always get what you want / But if you try sometimes well you just might find / You get what you need.” I only somewhat agree. I need very little. What I want, I don’t necessarily need. However, our desires make us unique, and if we embrace these desires, instead of being ashamed or scared of them, we might actually get what we want. With good intentions, one can’t ever desire too deeply.
Desires are good things.
