just some reflection...

It’s Wednesday today, 3 days after the half marathon and I’m happy to report that I’m walking normal again ;-) The muscle soreness is mostly gone and I’m feeling much better. I still feel a bit of pain in my right knee and my left ankle but besides that I’m almost back to old strength. I’ve been to the gym this morning and had a good workout. They say that a short recovery time in a sign that training has been good and well balanced so I guess I can give myself a pat on the back :-)

The only thing is, I’m sooooooooooo tired. I slept almost 9 hours last night but felt really tired and exhausted all day. And now it’s just 8.30pm and I could go to sleep (probably will as soon as I’m done writing). I guess it will take some time for my body to really recover. I think I haven’t looked forward to a weekend this much in a while ;-)

Despite all the exhaustion, pain and soreness, Sunday was one of the best days in my life. And who would have ever thought I would say that about a day where I had to get up at 4am and run/walk 21km? But that is exactly what makes it so great. I did something that no one would have ever expected me to do, least of all myself. I’m so not the Athletic type and I have never been good at any sport. Actually, I have never really done any sport or exercising despite horse riding. But now I’ve done a half marathon.

I don’t really believe in things like “you can do anything you want if you try hard enough”. It sounds nice and all but let’s face it, there are some limitations to what we can do. I will never be a famous singer, no matter how much I would want to, I simply don’t have the voice (and yes I know, neither have the likes of Britney Spears but trust me, compare to me Britney has the voice of the century). So I don’t think all the sudden I can do anything I want just because I finished a half marathon. But what I do believe is that I can do a lot more than I often think I can. And I think that is something I share with most people. It’s about comfort zones and getting out of them. It’s about challenging yourself to try something new. Some of the greatest things I’ve done and experienced are things I never thought I would do, like moving to the other side of the world or doing a half marathon. It is a very exciting feeling to achieve something you didn’t even think you could do and often didn’t even consider doing.

You often hear people say something like “the best things in life are for free”. I think it’s more like “the best things in life are the ones you’ve worked for the hardest”. I’ve done and achieved other great things before, like graduating from School and University among the top 10%, being exceptionally good as the Marketing Lead for Spark, being fluent in two languages, travelling to foreign countries all by myself and many other things. But it often felt like these things came natural. Not saying I didn’t work hard to achieve them or make them happen but they are kind of ‘typical Lisa things’. Or I guess you can say they were within my comfort zone :-) Doing a half marathon is definitely not typical and far outside my comfort zone. And that is what makes it so great.

Where am I going with this? Not really sure, just wanted to share some of the things I’ve been thinking about. I don’t really want to give advice on how to live their lives to anyone, I think I’m in no position to do so. I think that everyone needs to figure things out on their own and something that works for one person might not work at all for someone else. But there is one piece of advice I have that I think works for everyone: DO SOMETHING! Just do something, anything. Something you always wanted to do. And it can be anything. It doesn’t have to be a half marathon, it doesn’t have to be any things active at all. Maybe there is a challenging book you want to read, a country you want to visit or something you want to learn.
I’ve been involved in the entrepreneurial community here in Auckland for a few years now and I have heard from a lot of different successful and very inspiring entrepreneurs. They all have different stories and are successful for different reason. But there is one thing a lot of them seem to have in common and I think they also share this with others (non-entrepreneurs) that are successful in life. They have found something they are passionate about and gave it/are giving it their all!

That is what I want! I want to love what I’m doing and really care about it. And for the last 6 months the half marathon has been that something for me. Now I have to find something new and I’m sure I will, sooner or later.

So if I have one piece of advice for other people this is it: Do something! Just get started. Just pick a project and get started. And yes, maybe you’re gonna fail a few times, but trust me, the feeling of achieving something you never thought you could do will be worth the failures in the end!