Awakening - The Power of The Will

It's been a while since I posted on a blog entry, but I think its about time I start again.

I've been on an awakening journey to wake up in body, mind and spirit.  In today's society, so many of us are asleep to our true potential and unfamiliar to the true power that lies within us.

Part of my dharma (purpose in life), is to help others, and to do that I have to share my experiences.  So here is a brief entry of my recent experience of reacquainting myself with the power of will.

**********

“I can’t believe that just happened”

That was the first thought that went through my head as I turned my ankle on the first mile of my half marathon relay.  I already knew I was against a challenge running 6.55 miles because I don’t run.  Now, with this little mishap, I knew my battle was all up hill. 

As I sit here writing this entry, I’m still in awe of how my will helped me finish the half marathon relay on Sunday at the NJ Marathon. 

Damn, five and half more miles to go…

I thought I could walk it twisted ankle but I was in pain.  Damn, now that I think about it I was pissed off for a couple minutes.   But after that, I made a commitment to breathe and trot to the finish line.

Shoot, I had no choice, if I stopped to walk I would’ve had to call it a day and not complete my goal.  At that point, I made the internal commitment to get it done, no matter what. 

Five miles to go... 

As I was running I focused on my breath and not just a breathing rhythm, I focused on the role of my breathing to get to the finish line.  As I trotted along, I visualized that every inhale I took was nourishing my body and giving me what I needed to keep going.  Every exhale I released was the tightness, tension and pain leaving my body.  It got to one point that my breathing was so loud I sounded like a locomotive coming down the tracks!!

Three and half miles to go.

At this point, my mind tried to play tricks on me.  It was formulating a story to justify sitting on a curb to rest, to justify quitting.   And I remember thinking that was my ego trying to protect me; I actually remember talking to myself and saying,

“thanks for trying to protect me but I need your (my mind) resources to help me finish this race.” 

Internal communication can be a powerful because I found a way to get in done and focus on the task and hand.

Two miles to go…

Aaaah, I’m at the beach, last leg of the race so I knew I was close to done.  As I approached the finish, there were people walking with their medals telling me that the end is close.  I have to admit it was good to hear, but after a while I wanted to tell everyone to just shut up.  The more I heard the end is near, the more my ankle and mind tried to sideswipe my efforts to finish.  I just kept my pace and just put one foot in front of the other. 

One more mile…

I can remember blocking things out as I approached the finish line.  I heard people cheering, I could hear and see the ocean and feel the brisk air on my face, but it all felt like background.  The main show was happening inside of me as I realized I was about to complete a six and half mile run on a busted ankle, and with no prior training whatsoever, but I would complete it with the power of my will.

Oh did I forget to mention that I can count on one hand how many times I’ve run more than a mile in the past five years?

Thanks goodness!!!...I see the finish line!!!  I remember focusing on the finish line, like I was a hawk high in the sky focusing on its prey.  As it got closer and closer, I felt myself get a little emotional, and grateful, and tired, and elated all at once.  I thought about Push to Walk and how the money we raised will help them.  I thought about the difficulty the shore went through when hurricane Sandy ripped through the land. 

It all came up at one and it humbled me and made me realize the journey I went though is a snippet of life.

“I did it, I f**king did it, I knew I could!!”  Those were there words that I was saying as I raised my hands in victory and happiness.  I was victorious over the challenge of a running more miles that I have in a while on twisted ankle, and happy because I never quit moving. 

I had to share this story because it’s the story of life.  Life is always going to have its challenges because its life and if you think about it, its not really a life if there aren’t problems that are overcome.

But even more important is the power of our will.  If we stumble and fall, we can never quit; never.  With the power of will (aka the power of YOU), there are no insurmountable odds.

Thanks for reading and remember, don’t ever quit

WAKE UP!!!!!