Have you ever
finished a run and felt that you really knew you could do better? You knew you
had more to offer. You knew that the way you currently run was not all there
is. Nearly everyone has more potential than they have realized. That is why I
bring up today’s topic. Potential is the
term used to define the difference between the positive and negative poles of a
battery. When there is a voltage
difference between the two, electrical energy is available. But that energy is
not actually used when there is not a working circuit connected to the
battery. When nothing is connected, we
have only stored energy. We have only the possibility of that energy being
useful. If a battery is never used, it eventually becomes weak and useless. Some of the most useful batteries are designed
to be re-charged again and again. When
energy is released, useful work is done and then the source is replenished and
is ready to supply power again. These batteries can have long useful lives. To get the full benefit from the energy
stored in a battery, it must be connected to something and that circuit must be
designed carefully, that is certain conditions must be met for the system to
work efficiently.
Using a more
biological example we know that a massive tree grows from a single seed. The
life contained within the seed is miraculous. We cannot explain it, yet we can
trust that it is there. Yet the life
potential contained in most seeds does not produce a large mature tree. Certain
conditions must be met. Most seeds are left on the surface to rot or are eaten
by birds or squirrels, or fall on rocky or unsuitable ground or produce a tree
that is unable to survive to maturity. If most of the conditions are met then
survival to maturity becomes the final test. It is also interesting to note how
long some seeds can remain dormant until the right conditions are met. However the most critical stage is the point
where the hard protective shell opens, the life within is exposed and begins to
grow. Once the protection is gone,
dormancy is over, and life will emerge, to flourish or die.
Like the
battery on the shelf, or the dormant seed, each of us has a unique potential, a
unique set of life gifts, and a challenge to sprout and grow and be part of the
environment. Like the seed with the hard outer casing, each of us has a
carefully crafted and clever self image that houses and protects our current
identity and also sets limits on our growth. If our outer shell remains stable
and static, no new life can emerge. This shell exists for an extremely
important reason, to protect the life within. Only under the right
circumstances can the shell be disturbed productively and allow for further
growth.
What are the
right conditions to release the potential of new life? How do we more fully release the human
spirit? The ground the seed falls into
represents opportunity. As the seed senses the right conditions, the ground
begins to represent experience. When the time is right the ground is a place of
surrender, trust, risk and sacrifice. The seed must not be opened before its
time but when the time is right the embryonic tree will come forth. With humans
the ground is not just experience, but learning from that experience. Learning
is the key to moving forward. Progress is accepting a time of maximum
vulnerability.
With runners,
running injury may be a new and transformative learning experience, a chance to
learn something about ourselves and running that we didn’t know before. And a chance to leave behind old attitudes
and run in a way that is more compatible with our bodies and efficient running,
a chance to learn better technique that will take us so much farther. A new
training goal , a new coach, a new approach to training or most important for
some people a new way to use running to prepare for some other aspect of life.
All these are opportunities for growth. Pick your environment carefully to
nourish your deepest desires.
The
hindrances to fully letting our spirit out are the habits that keep us from
finding the fertile ground and planting ourselves there. Growth in self awareness is the key. Think of
living in an older house. You have lived there for years yet you have never
looked into the attic. One day you need to know what is there, perhaps the roof
has leaked. You get on the ladder and open the access door and look in. You shine your flashlight into all the
corners. You spot the source of the roof leak. You also see the cobwebs. And in the middle of the attic you see a
number of heirlooms. You see the condition of the structure. You will no longer
have a blank spot in your mind about this area. Your relationship with the
house is changed forever.
What is this fertile soil
like? “Find your true weakness
and surrender to it. Therein lies the path to genius. Most people spend their
lives using their strengths to overcome or cover up their weaknesses. Those few
who use their strengths to incorporate their weaknesses, who don’t divide
themselves, those people are very rare. In any generation there are a few and
they lead their generation. ”
Moshe Feldenkrais
The refinement of the self image is not the changing of
ourselves into someone else but the sharpening of the sense of who we really
are. Knowing ourselves and giving in to
who we really are is the key to success as a runner or in any aspect of life.
Remember the story of Jacob wresting with the angel? Jacob was out of time. It was the last night
before he would face a brother who had sworn to kill him. His brother
approached and would meet him the next day with four hundred men. Jacob had
only the women and children with him, the ones he loved, his family and his
legacy. But worse for Jacob, all his life he had sought the blessing of his
calling. No more time. One night remained, and then the sun would break and a
critical day would begin. Jacob spent the night alone wrestling with his
situation and then a man appeared. Jacob wrestled with the man all night. And the angel said to him let me go for the
day breaks, and Jacob said I will not let you go unless you bless me. And the man touched Jacob on the thigh and
his hip was dislocated and Jacob was blessed. Jacob was never the same. After
that night he even had a new name. His
name was one who had prevailed with God.
I have wrestled with myself all night, as I am sure you
have. I was tempted to give up and say I
could never be anything but what I have been and settle for that. But that was
not acceptable; it was not the true possibility. The first secret is not giving
up. Then when the energy for the struggle is gone the only solution is to
surrender to who you really are. You see when we use all our energy to cover
our weaknesses; there is nothing left to reveal our strengths. Jacob now met
his brother with a limp that was probably painful. Yet as far as the real
situation this did not matter, it was only an acknowledgement, an accentuation
of his already weak position. We can
walk with a limp metaphorically, and yet be the ones who prevail. First we must refuse to give up. Then in vulnerability and humility we find
our true strengths. This is all done
through real experience as we live our lives.
Anyone can release their human potential by exposing their true selves. Be
real, integrate your dreams with your workouts, your gifts whatever they maybe,
and your real here and now. We have two
kinds of weaknesses, the first kind we surrender to. With our true weaknesses
revealed we can manage them and release our greatest strengths. The second kind, when the light shines on
them are revealed to be only imagined weakness. These then become fertile
ground for new learning.
Yes anyone can find and release their gifts. But since my
wrestling involved realizing that I am getting a bit older, that I am in the
Baby Boomer demographic. Since my wrestling involved giving in to that reality
of myself image, I have a special message for Baby Boomers. I will get to that soon.
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