Embracing my Journey

Life is a journey, and I am embracing it for what it is.

As a runner, it’s easy to get distracted by numbers. More miles is better. Faster pace is better. Higher elevation is better. So often we get stuck in a place of comparison. Comparison with others, comparison with our past selves. A desire – no, a NEED to do more. A need to be “better”. A need to hear the praise from others for our accomplishments.

I’m trying to let go of this. I am embracing my journey for what it is.

It’s a topic that I have spent a lot of time unpacking. For most of my life, I have lived by this: more = better = praise = being loved. Seems simple, but overall is flawed. Because on the flip side it means that less = worse = no praise = not loved; am I only worthy of love when I am at my best?

Of course not.

I am learning that there is nothing more important than acknowledging my inherent self-worth, regardless of how much I do or what other people think. Regardless of how much or how little I am accomplishing at any given moment. Lately, that looks like eliminating the need to qualify my runs as “injury recovery”, in case someone might think I was slow. It is a journey to unwavering self-confidence that allows me to press on every day. To do what I feel without weighing the repercussions. Whether I go out there and kick ass or stay home and watch TV all day, my value does not change.

I am enough.