Life is a race. Run, Run, Run......!!!

I made it today….. Nothing is impossible, I have broken the 4 minute barrier. Wondering what? OK, let me tell you all what actually happened….

I would like to start with a big Thanks to Facebook and WhatsApp. Around 2 years back, we slowly got connected with our School friends thru Facebook. We all met after almost 21 years, a memorable day. We were 18 of us, spoke a lot and laughed our heart out. It didn’t stop with that, we created a WhatsApp group for the School friends and started being in touch. As any other group, our group was also very busy during initial days and slowly it become little silent.

One fine morning, Pinni (Her name is also Kavitha and we fondly call her Pinni) posted her picture which was taken during Wipro Marathon, she had run 10 KMs!!!!. That was the trigger point for me. So far, many of my friends have told me to try these Marathons, but I never felt that I can do it. I always felt that, I am too old to try that, after Rohit, I am not fit to try all that. Trust me, I have worked hard to find reasons why I cannot do it, but never spent even a single minute to think how I can do that.

Now after seeing Pinni’s picture, I really got motivated. She was my classmate, who is of my age, if she can do it, then I should also be able to do it. So I registered for Feb 21^st “Save a Turtle” 3 KMs run. I had registered for Kumaran and Rohit also (No other intension, I want them also to be healthyJ). For many of you, 3 KMs might sound very simple, for me who had never participated in any sports or physical activities, that itself was a tough one. :-(

We had around 40 days for preparing our self for the run!! (You can also read it as jog or walk). My little Hero came for my help. Rohit and I used to wake up at 5:30 AM and go for 30 minutes’ walk on daily basis, at times I used to jog also. My childhood friends Priya and Gayathri also enrolled for this. So we used to ping each other about the progress we are making. (Literal RAG status on whether we went for walk or not on that day :-P )

Finally this morning, the impossible became possible for me. Such a good feeling to finish it and write this blog. THANK YOU SO MUCH PINNI. You are the one who kindled the thought it me. We all have decided that we will not allow this momentum to die. I have even registered for next week 5 KMs run!! I wish to take this as a good example that It is never too late to learn or start something new.

Never Give Up....

I got few videos from my SIL this morning in WhatsApp. They are videos of my niece (Athina). I watched those videos at least 10-15 times. She is just six months old, cute little girl, who is trying to make her first crawl. It was very interesting to watch her. All that she knows now is to balance her body on her hands and knees. She wants to move, but yet to learn that she has to co-ordinate the movement of her hands and knees. Instead of trying to move her hand and legs, she is trying to shake her whole body to make a move. After some time, she gets tired and leans to one side and have a happy rest time. May be, she is thinking how to try next time to make her first move!!!

Initially when I saw this videos, I was laughing at her tries. Slowly I started realizing how much a baby is inclined to try and make it happen. In spite of all failures, she is very persistent in trying. In fact, this is the case with every new born baby at each stage of their development. None of them get anything right at the first try, they all fail and then keep trying till they get success.

What are we doing as Adults is the question which came to my mind. I don’t know about others, at least I can tell you, that I try once or twice and then decide that this will not suit me and I GIVE UP big time. Where is the persistence which we had as kids gone as we grow up? We learn a lot as we grow and we also unlearn a lot of which we knew already.

The question is what am I going to do to learn that attitude and keep trying to achieve what I want. These are few things which I have learnt today which I am going to try and follow:

1. Have a Clear Goal (Many times, this itself is a problem for me)
2. Develop a more positive attitude
3. Learn to embrace change (Reminds me of “Who moved my cheese” and “Our Iceburg is melting”)
4. Learn from mistakes and become strong (Don’t crib! – This is for me!!)
5. Be more patient—good things will happen if you keep trying (Again, apt for me!!)
6. Get a mentor you trust (I have already got few and one more kindhearted person has accepted my mentor request – See how lucky I am J )
7. Be a person of action (Just speaking and writing blogs won’t help. L Action is important. I am talking about myself only!!)
8. Don’t let your past dictate your future (Use this moment. “The power of Now” this is the book which I am reading currently, all I can say is: it is making me sleep L )
9. Try a different approach and keep an open mind. Stop doing the same thing and expect different results
10. Don’t let anyone else lower your self-worth (This service will be available free of cost, say to NO to them. Experience speaks!!)
11. Be a part of a community of people who want the same thing (Hello, anybody there??J)

There is no doubt that Athina is going to be successful in her first crawl in next few days. It is only about me and my persistence. I will keep you all posted.