“Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.”
― Angela Duckworth, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
I’ve got enthusiasm for days. When I started training for marathons, I had to learn about endurance. What I found was that I wanted to start running strong out of the gate. I would start my runs singing, busting out tunes and I would barely finish, often walking. My friend and I were on a road trip the first time I started training. It was during this time that I learned how to manage this personality split. I had spent the morning hiking down the grand canyon, 9 miles. I’d literally never walked that much in a single trip. I was flying high on this personal best. We arrived in LA and went to dinner with a dear friend’s relatives. Her uncle was in his early 70s, and in his retirement had taken up marathon training. I was wildly impressed. My 23 year old self had written him off as old. If he could do it, I could do it. While I was hiking the Grand Canyon, he’d run 13 miles, JUST FOR FUN. He’d said, “take me out tomorrow morning for an 8 miler,” longer than I’d ever run. We started out at 6:00am and as per usual, I went off like a bang. “What are you doing?” he asked. “Slow down. We wanna make it the whole way.”
We ran 8 miles, slower than I thought I should go. Except for the first time, I ran the whole way and when I came home, I didn’t feel dead tired. What I found was the longer I ran, the more attention I had for longer projects. The more that I stayed with it and learned to be in the practice of it, the more it gave to me.
Mantra: May I stay in the trenches today and let that be the work. My endurance has dividends.
Journal: Where are you building your capacity, your endurance? Where is enthusiasm leading and how can you strengthen your endurance?
xo,
Jess
These Soulful Sunday blogs go out weekly on Sundays to be used as a place to step back from the hustle and bustle and explore what your soul might be saying to you. Some folks use these as journal prompts and let loose amidst pages. Some folks bring them to the kitchen table and jam over coffee. Do you, boo.
