SERENITY NOW!

Hey guys! It’s been a hot minute since my last post. I was kind of joking about the after effects of our race last week, but as it turns out, there was more to that than I realized.

I ended up getting sick last week. Nothing major (just a cold and/or sinus issues), but I just didn’t feel like myself. I don’t know about you guys, but I really don’t like feeling off. It’s almost like I feel guilty for even saying that I was sick, because it really wasn’t that bad. I know that other people are dealing with major issues and that my “sickness” pales in comparison.

I think that I jumped back into some workouts a little bit too quickly. I tried to do a 5 mile tempo run towards the end of the week last week and that pretty much did me in (when it really shouldn’t have). As I thought more about it, I realized that I basically ran a marathon (and a very hilly one at that) during the relay, so it is pretty understandable that my legs and body would still be a little fatigued. I think the workout just postponed my recovery. Stubbornness can get the best of me sometimes.

What I wasn’t really expecting after the relay was the mental fatigue. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I definitely think that there is something psychologically challenging about the post-race time period and it’s almost as if the higher your emotions soar during the race, the lower you tend to feel afterward.

Jack Lesyk, Ph.D., a clinical and sports psychologist, says it this way, “We have been taught that the attainment of the goal is the reward. Now the goal is attained and you are puzzled by your unanticipated unhappiness. The goal has turned out to be an illusion. The joy was in the dream and the process of moving towards your goal, in mobilizing your physical and mental potentials to their fullest. Once the goal was accomplished, the dream died. The joy ended. And now it’s time to regroup and start over again.”

I didn’t do a lot of training specifically for the relay, but there was definitely a lot of planning and hype surrounding the relay and the relay itself was basically the conclusion of a very busy (and fun) spring racing season. I ran a lot of races this spring and I absolutely loved it! I love races and pushing myself to be the best me that I can be. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately (depending on how you want to look at it)), there aren’t very many races during the summer in lower Alabama.

There will probably be a few 5Ks here and there, but nothing major. My training this summer will be mainly focused on 50K. I’d also like to do a late fall or early winter marathon, but we’ll see about that. I don’t have anything planned yet. I’m going to try to consistently document my training for the 50K over the course of the next few months. It’s already starting to ramp up!

I also had several fun trips right after tax season this year (AL –> FL –> AL –> SC –> AL –> TN –> AL). It’s been go, go, go. While I kind of prefer it that way (sometimes at least), I do at least recognize that I am ready for some downtime. We don’t have any major plans for the rest of the summer and thankfully my summer schedule at work is pretty flexible, so there is definitely some downtime in my future.

Something else that has been wearing on me a little bit is that I’ve been letting other people’s struggles bring me down. I have tried to be a good friend and be helpful in a situation where I thought I was being called to help. I think I probably just need to continue to pray for guidance and wisdom regarding that.

Enter –> The Serenity Prayer. Although the prayer itself has become somewhat culturalized at this point (hence the Seinfeld reference in the title … did you catch that), it is still so refreshingly simple and profound that it is just plain powerful. It is commonly used as part of 12 step programs and I think I was first introduced to during college when I spent some time at an inpatient eating disorder treatment center. I learned some invaluable life lessons during that time and every now and then things that I learned there will pop into my brain (and thus onto the blog).

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
As it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His Will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him
Forever and ever in the next.
Amen.

I found an awesome Huffington Post article about the timeless truths of the Serenity Prayer and I am going to share them below.

When we devote inordinate attention to the things we cannot change, we expend physical, emotional and mental energy that could be directed elsewhere. Accepting that there are some things we cannot change does not make us complacent. It constitutes a leap of faith — an ability to trust, as the prayer goes on to say, “that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will.” We thus make the choice to let go and have faith in the outcome.

One of life’s greatest challenges is imagining how our lives could be different than they are now. Often, our deeply-ingrained habits are our own worst enemies, and simply identifying them is half the battle. Since habits gain power through repetition, it takes real focus and perspective to take a look at ourselves and our habits and ask, “Is this how I really want to live?”

We must accept “hardships as the pathway to peace.” Every person confronts obstacles in the course of his or her life. When we view these obstacles not just as frustrations or failures, but as opportunities for growth and learning, we can transcend our circumstances.

The word “surrender” has mostly negative connotations; we associate it with resignation, failure and weakness. But the Serenity Prayer reframes the notion of surrender as an act of faith and trust.

The prayer’s ending has something very profound to say about happiness: if we follow the prayer’s advice, we may be “reasonably happy in this life.” Just reasonably? At a time when our culture measures happiness and success mostly in terms of money and power, that word “reasonably” stands out as an appealingly modest definition of a successful life. Rather than wondering why we aren’t happier, or picking through every minute aspect of our lives, the prayer asks us to focus on the present, “Living one day at a time” and “enjoying one moment at a time.”

That’s all I’ve got for today. No fun stories or pictures, etc. Just wanted to share a few things that have been on my heart and mind.

I hope y’all are having a good week!