My Intention: Look for the Pain

"Pain is meant to wake us up. People try to hide their pain. But they're wrong. Pain is something to carry, like a radio. You feel your strength in the experience of pain. It's all in how you carry it. That's what matters." - Jim Morrison



All of a sudden it seems that I have a race on Saturday....and an Olympic distance one at that!

Last year, building to this distance was my ultimate goal. This year I've been so busy with life, work, and training for my first half-iron, that this race has snuck up on me.

Perhaps that's a good thing, as I tend to swim, bike, and run faster when I'm not overthinking it. We'll see how this new "sneaky approach" actually goes!

So, my intention?

Well, it's a brand new race to me, but not a brand new distance. I know it will be challenging. I know that it will be just long enough. I know it will hurt. And so, my intention is to look for the pain - especially on the run, especially around mile 4 of the final 6.2.

I intend to seek out the pain, to invite it in, to study it, to see what it has to offer, to make friends, to accept it -instead of fighting it with every step.

Often times avoiding pain has led to homelessness for the parents living at Genesis Home. They choose to continue an addiction because their fix quells the pain. They choose destructive relationships because of the pain and loneliness that self-efficacy sometimes brings with it. They choose to drop-out of school because the pain that might arise if they don't measure up.

All pain is different. All pain is the same.

On Saturday, we'll be facing the pain together.