COURAGE, STRENGTH AND WISDOM

Last week I ran my first ever 5km cross-country, high altitude trail – 3.5 months post my 2nd baby.

By understanding what about it didn’t matter, it taught me everything that did actually matter…

It didn’t matter that I got a medal and certificate at the finish line, because those were shortly usurped by my kids and I haven’t seen them since. It only mattered that I had managed to push myself to finish even when I had several moments of not knowing how I would. It only mattered that my daughter wore the medal proudly around her neck the rest of the day – hopefully someday understanding that nothing lies beyond her reach and effort.  

It didn’t matter that I fell behind the people I had started with, because I was just proud that without any training and fresh on the heels of my recent VBAC, I was able to actually run again. 

It mattered to me that I had finally learnt to look at my body as the magic it was capable of achieving – what it felt like from the inside, rather than just what it looked like on the outside.

It didn’t matter that some people cheered me on half way through thinking I was running the 15k and that others saw a not very fit looking person and wondered whatever people do wonder. It only mattered to me that I was running this for myself and for my daughters. To show them what matters more than what others think of us, is what we believe of ourselves.

It didn’t matter how long I took to complete the run. It didn’t matter that I had slept a total of 4hrs the night before, breastfed every 2 hours and then again, just before and soon after the run. It mattered that I learnt that when I set my mind to achieve something, there’s not a lot that can stand in the way. I couldn’t run over it, I couldn’t run under it, I had to run right through it!

The only thing that mattered to me and probably should to all of us in the end, is that we have COURAGE enough to show up, STRENGTH enough to hang in there and WISDOM enough to absorb every lesson and view along the absolutely stunning journey of life! ♥️

Most of all, I finally understood in practice what I knew all along in theory, that, “There is no destination, because life is all IN the journey.”