Toughts Are Things

"Thoughts Are Things"

I watched a rather blah movie on Sunday night (Wonderful World with Matthew Broderick) but one saying has stuck with me since then and I'm still spending time daily analyzing just how deeply it can be applied to my life.

At the very simple level I think it speaks to the power of positive thinking.  As for how positive thinking can be applied to runners, simply think of all the times you've entered a race feeling unprepared because you let your mind run wild with what might go wrong....it happens more often than you might think. Heck, I'd propose it's even the norm for most runners.  Only the most successful runners have learned how to harness their thoughts to lead them to successes.  I'm now reminded of another great quote, this time from Mark Twain:

"I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened."

This last statement, from Mark Twain, should hit home pretty hard for most of us.  How many times have we worried over what might go wrong and completely forgot to enjoy what was actually going exactly to plan?  We need to accept that there will always be a certain level of uncertainty, and find faith in the support systems we've put up to cope with these. If we can believe in ourselves, our supports, etc....then we can spend more of our waking energy enjoying the things we've worked so hard to accomplish.  So stop worrying, fretting and freaking out.

Find comfort in the things you've done, not what you haven't done.  It will do you no good to think of the things you haven't done, there are always things we haven't done.  As I was writing this a new blog article popped up in my reader that I find fits far too well. The post, from Aron over at Runner's Rambles, speaks of remembering 'What You DID Do' as you taper for your important race....I highly recommend the read! Her blog is fantastic and she's quite the character.