I smashed my face forcefully into the wall this week.
The ensuing pain throbbed throughout my body.
“Why does it have to be so painful?” was the only thought that coursed through my mind.
As I recovered from the incident, I took some time to think about what had just happened.
“Why does this have to be so hard?”
“Am I doing something wrong?”
“Am I focusing on the wrong things?”
These are the questions that have bounced around in my noggin the last week.
I haven’t started to achieve traction as quickly as I had desired.
I had a conversation with a few people about my blogging efforts.
This isn’t as much fun as it was a few months ago when I got started.
At the beginning of July, I made a commitment to myself to publish a blog post every day for the next twelve months.
Last week, I commented to my wife that this is starting to be a challenge.
To which she responded, “What are you going to do?”
I’m going to keep publishing blog posts.
I’m two months into this process. I’ve got ten more months to go.
This blog post will be my 92nd blog post since I started writing in May earlier this year.
Next June, I’ll have over 365 blog posts published.
Next June, I’ll have over 240 podcast episodes published.
I spoke with a mentor of mine yesterday and shared with her the pain I was feeling.
We talked about a few things.
I broke down into tears as I explained the work I’ve been putting together.
I shared with her the quarterly objectives I’ve been working on.
I then shared with her how on a daily basis, I’m doing the work to get the work done on my quarterly objectives.
I’ve stayed focused on accomplishing the few tasks that I know will make a difference for me a year from now.
She told me, “Damon, you’re doing what you need to do. It just is going to be painful for right now. You’ll get through this, and it will be worth it.”
Later that day, I said to myself…
“I’ve been here before.”
This is not a new experience for me.
I then thought back to the marathons, I had run, and every time I hit the wall around mile 16 or 18 of the race.
When I hit the wall in the marathon, the only thought I could express was…
“I’m just so tired of running. I want to quit.”
“This sucks.”
“I can’t do this anymore.”
“I’m tired.”
When I hit the wall in the marathon, I stop running.
However, I keep walking.
One step in front of the other.
I keep walking.
Walking is not running.
However, walking is progress.
With each step, I get one step closer to the finish line.
And finally, I cross the finish line of the marathon.
I put the finisher’s medal around my neck and sit down.
I can quit now because I finished the race.
There are times when life hits me hard.
There are times when things don’t happen as quickly as I’d like them to happen.
I was never a fast marathon runner.
However, I did finish seven marathons.
More notably, I finished six marathons in one year.
Here’s the thing to think about. A marathon is 26.2 miles long.
Most people walk 26.2 miles in the course of a month.
It’s pretty hard not to walk about a mile a day under the most sedentary of situations.
However, that 26.2 miles doesn’t count for most people because they didn’t complete the 26.2 miles during on stint.
Therefore, most people cannot claim the title of marathon finishers.
Most people will earn more a million or two million dollars over their lifetimes.
All one has to do to earn a million dollars is earn $25,000 a year for forty years.
However, most people do not become millionaires because they don’t accumulate the money. They spend the money.
And most people don’t dare to do something big because it’s too much work.
It’s too painful.
There are more important things to do like binge-watching the latest new show on TV.
I may not get it right the first time.
I may not get it right the second time.
I may not get it right the 99th time.
But I’m going to keep moving forward until I get it right.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” – Teddy Roosevelt.
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