This morning at the cafe I was writing about yesterday’s triumphant running experience which, to summarize, was my third time running 20 miles, yet my first truly satisfying 20-mile running experience.
As I sat there writing, the following thought occurred to me:
You are seeing the inescapable fact of progress towards what matters to you when you have a desire and have no real resistance. Progress is inevitable!
The value of this thought was immediately clear to me. Let me explain.
Last year, I set my sights on running 20 miles in one continuous run. Although I didn’t specify what that had to look like, I’m sure I wanted not just to run 20 miles, but also to feel good about running 20 miles. I wanted to experience it as a manageable amount, instead of a big scary haul. This is an important step towards satisfactorily completing a marathon (which is 26.2 miles).
Achieving that goal occurred in stages. The first time I ran 20 miles, it might not have been scary, but it was a long, challenging haul. The second time, it got a bit scary afterward… when I nearly passed out. Finally, the third time was the charm: a manageable run where I felt good throughout, and happened to blow my previous best out of the water.
This is the same exact process explained in the words that came to me today:
- I had a desire for something that excited me, made me kinda nervous, but seemed possible. In other words, I didn’t have more than the usual amount of resistance one might have with doing something beyond one’s comfort zone.
- I worked my way to my goal, having a good time all the while, until rather effortlessly I achieved it.
Progress is inevitable when you want something you are ready for! And if it’s sort of scary, all the better, because that just means you are growing and that it means something to you.
If, on the other hand, you try to do something either you aren’t ready for it or you aren’t actually in alignment with, progress may be fleeting, unreliable, or non-existant. Believe me, I know what this is like, and it sucks!
Ultimately, it seems that only things that are a true match for us come easily. When we want something that we are really ready for, we just move toward it, and a process unfolds where we get closer and closer to it, and eventually we attain it.
In those cases, progress is inevitable š