Last week was a marathon of sorts. Adjusting to a newborn's sleep schedule, chasing two rambunctious boys, working, and attending a two-day leadership conference had me tired by 5 p.m. Friday evening. I decided to go running nonetheless. Why not? I thought back to the motto I first heard a few months ago, "if it doesn't suck, we don't do it."
Now I am not training for a marathon or anything. I do prioritize physical fitness (I don't want to be both bald and fat!)—but mostly, I train for mental toughness because life requires perseverance. The goal is to develop the fortitude required to react positively when life hits the fan. Notice I said "when," not "if."
In the time it took me to put my workout clothes on, the storm clouds had rolled in. I thought I could head out, nonetheless, and beat the storm home. Let's pause and think about how insanely stupid that last statement is. I am a slow 34-year-old, not Usain Bolt. So outrunning a storm is about the silliest thought I could have ever had.
The storm came raging in about a half mile into my run. My honest-to-goodness first thought was pure hilarity. "And you thought you could outrun this?" I thought. And in the next second: "What do I do now?" I am sort of in no-mans land, right? I am getting soaked either way.
So I decided to put my head down run.
The rain, somehow, invigorated me. Not only was it oddly refreshing, the difficult conditions challenged me to exert my best effort. Nobody else was running in it and this also encouraged me to keep pounding pavement.
A few miles into the run I heard the tornado siren begin to announce impending doom. No joke, I am not making this up. My heart started pumping faster, but then I realized this had to be a false alarm. This realization came from utilizing the knowledge I gained from my freshman year "Thunderstorms and Tornados" science elective at Purdue University (no joke, one of the best electives I took). So freed from the thought of danger, I settled in and before long was back home. Run complete.
After receiving a lecture from my 2.5-year-old Ben on why running in the rain is "not a good idea," I started to contemplate what had just transpired...
Isn't "rain running" exactly like a product launch in business or other life events? For..
- You start off in good conditions
- The storm always comes faster than you expect
- You are faced with a "do I go on moment?"
- And somebody always blows a tornado siren ("stop!" "quit!" "GIVE UP because it is too dangerous!")
Nonsense.
Storms happen. Rain is inevitable. The journey is always uphill.
The choice is whether or not we (you and I) are going to put our head down and run anyway.
Let's run.
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