Thought for January: Get Out and Do Something

I'm sure most of you read the eyebrow-raising article in the Wall Street Journal article regarding Asian mothers and their child rearing techniques. I read it like a college student, trying to decipher the thesis while keeping my emotions in check.  And while I believe the thesis was buried under a lot of self-congratulatory anecdotes, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there is a salvageable nugget to be gleamed from this article. (Can you even call it that?)

If the point of being alive and on this earth is to do something (which I believe it is), then why not do it with gusto, dedication, and resolve so complete that you cannot do anything but succeed - if at nothing else but having accomplished what you set out to do?

While I was at the gym tonight, taking another day off from running, I couldn't help but reflect on this point. I am not, nor will I ever be, a champion runner. But is this fact any reason to not pursue it - as long as I truly pursue it?  Half-assing anything is pretty much a waste of time - your time doing it and any one else's time you involve having to evaluate your work, encourage you along the way, pick up your slack, or console you on your "failure."

The article's whole point about American parents's obsessions with their children's self-esteem, I think, missed the point. Cultivating self-esteem is important - but so is pushing the child beyond their comfort zones. Telling someone who gives 50% they did a great job is a disservice to everyone - the individual, the speaker, and society.

Before I get all the way on my soapbox,  I'll step back and encourage everyone - get out and do something. I know I won't beat James in 5K because he's faster than I am; but that sure as hell doesn't mean I can't try. It also means I can celebrate his victories with him and be proud of my own accomplishments. I'm not asking for anyone to tell me I'm the best runner out there just because I finished a race - that's a lie. That would be like those parents who told their tone-deaf children that they really could be the next American Idol. 

James recently told me that one of the bad-ass ultramarathoners is planning to run 1000 miles in three weeks.

I am not a bad-ass ultramarathoner; so when I finish this year of running, I'm going to smile from here to California, and I hope you'll raise your glass to drink with me.