Pacing Myself

Last week I went for a trail run with a friend who recently made the change from graphic designer to full time photographer. In talking about this big change, I asked him what his "ideal" situation in life would be. His answer, though not new to the world of advice, was that he tried not to look too far into the future at the risk of missing the things he was experiencing right then.

Sadly, I am not naturally a "Zen" thinker. At some point in my life, I began to think that we were all running the exact same race. And as time passed, and I reached landmarks at a different pace and order than people around me, I fell victim to the thought that I was "behind." But as my friend and I remarked, and in light of the Olympics, I need to remember that like runners on a track, we too start at staggered places on the field. Built uniquely for different destinations, paces, and distances, we were never meant to compare ourselves to each other as if we were running the same course, in the same lane, toward the same finish line.

My new hope then is to slow my internal clock a few clicks and enjoy more my individual race. While there are still things that I hope will happen, great things, I will try and culture the thought (like the popular country song) that I simply "could not ask for more." By doing that, I am telling the divine beings at large that I recognize the experiences I am having right now. And when something different is given to me later in my race, I will know how to appreciate that too.

While "ideal" may still sound a little more appealing to me than it does to my friend, so do the slow possibilities of this very moment. And in not focusing too much on what could be, I more readily show my gratitude for what is.