An account of last week:
I started the week with no judgments, or at least that was the goal. My inner critic - rife with complaints of 'not fast enough!' and 'not strong enough' needed to be muzzled. So committed to the idea of a week without that nagging voice. Each workout I did, be it run or bike or walk, was about the pleasure of ability. That I am able to to these things, was the focus.
The results: I biked farther this week than I have in months. I ran for the pure enjoyment and achieved the runner's high. I walked to and from work without concern of my pace (yes - even that gets me sometimes!)
Fittingly on Friday, my boss and I had a lesson in this 'no judgments' philosophy...
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See, I work for a wonderful woman. Not only is she an admired leader in our field, but she's also (outside of work) a runner and sports' enthusiast. We connect because we know the value of working hard, taking on challenges, and appreciating the commaraderie that is attained through competition.
So, my boss, who is ever-on-top-of-things but also quite absent-minded when it comes to 1) Keys 2) Cell Phone 3) Wallet 4) Sunglasses, was headed off to London on Saturday. She's there now. But last Friday afternoon, mere hours before she was to head home to prepare for the trip, she did the unthinkable.
Balancing her blackberry on top of her coffee cup while opening a door ... she managed to drop her phone into the full cup. And kill it. Dead. That's right. Hours before going abroad, she executed her key communication tool.
And as her assistant, I could have cried. I could have berated myself and her. I could have stressed. But instead, I rode the 'no judgments' train of thought I had practiced. With the help of my superstar colleague, I tracked down the IT/Phone people on the studio lot. I got them to replace the phone ASAP. I handled the seemingly stressful moment with aplomb.
And when she returned to the office to face me - the bearer of this stress - she winced in hopes I hadn't blown a glasket. I hadn't. Instead I laughed, and she laughed. We both wrote the mistake off as simply that - human error. And she said, "Just trying to keep it light around here!"
~~~
Why do I bring up this ancedote? It just seems fitting. I spent all of last week trying to 'control' myself and 'control' my environment. But once I let go and just enjoyed the ride things got easier and better. And when it came to work, my ability to roll with the punches (or coffee plunges) was ulitized too.
May your runs for the rest of the week be uncontrolled ... and fabulous.
2 comments:
oh that stinks about the cell phone in the coffee! oy! things like that always happen at the worst times!
Nice attitude :) Glad everything worked and your runs were good too. I think almost everyone could benefit from stressing and worrying less.
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