Expect it to be uphill
Welcome to May. Time sure flies when you are having fun.
A couple of weeks ago Cape Town hosted the Two Oceans Ultra and Half marathons. Thousands of people participated in and completed these epic races. Most of them without complaining. I can’t speak for all of them, but I am 99% sure that none of them were surprised by the fact that the routes included some serious hills (mountains) you had to navigate to reach the finish line. In fact, I saw one runner vaping while going up the one hill. I kid you not! Entering these races means willingly signing up to go uphill. It’s just the way it is, no questions asked.
A while back I was listening to a podcast discussion where Andy Stanley was hosting the world-renowned leadership expert John C. Maxwell. I can’t recall most of the discussion, but the one thing that stood out when Maxwell was talking about leading and life in general was this: Expect it to be uphill.
He explained that throughout his lifetime he saw many leaders and individuals in other areas of life not reaching their potential because they gave up too soon – just before reaching their breakthrough. The main reason being that they were “surprised” when things didn’t go according to plan. In a way, most people (in his experience) are surprised when life is tougher than expected. We tend do the opposite of those entering the Two Oceans – we expected plain sailing. And this discrepancy between expectation and reality gradually erodes our resilience to the point of giving up on our goals and settling for much less in life.
The thing is, running uphill sucks. It’s not fun, it’s not easy. It is slow and tedious and demands plenty of grit and determination. But damn does it make you strong.
Many people we speak with feel like they have been running uphill all year:
- Their kids are constantly sick, not sleeping at night, or just difficult to deal with.
- Finding and landing good work opportunities is a long and difficult process.
- Business is slow and making sales takes longer and more effort than before.
- Recovering from illness or injury seems to be a constant theme.
- Finances are under pressure.
- Simple administrative tasks are more difficult to complete than they should be.
- Relationships are under pressure or taking strain.
You name it, it’s happening. And not only to you. So take heart from that.
The way we see it is you have two choices: You can either wish the hills away, ignore them or resent them – but they will not go away. Or you can anticipate and prepare for them. And on the odd occasion when things go easily and according to plan, be immensely thankful that you got to run downhill for a while. See the downhills as the exception, not the rule.
Running uphill is a lot like life. It’s not always fun, it’s not often easy. It is sometimes slow and tedious and always demands plenty of grit and determination. But that is what it takes – so you best be expecting those hills.
A sincere than you for joining us again this week. If you know of anyone that needs some encouragement, please share this piece with them. Have a great weekend!
Here is an image of the actual elevation plot of the Ultra Marathon completed by a friend of ours. Some serious hills indeed!
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