Don’t Believe, Just Do It

It’s been one year since I started my blog and announced my plans to train for Grandma’s marathon while going through chemotherapy. I look back to that first posting on January 6th, 2008 and I remember how unsure I was about my proposal. You may think I had a bad attitude towards it; that I should have believed that I could do it. You have heard from other apparently successful people that, “if you believe enough in something, you will accomplish it”. I say that’s bull and those people are either mislead or just snake oil salesmen. I don’t believe in the mind over matter thing.

Don’t get me wrong. I believe that attitude has a major role in how well we perform at something and can affect our physical strength. For example the mind can help release adrenaline which can greatly increase our physical performance. I know very well the effects of adrenaline during the first miles of a marathon. Attitude controls how well we use our abilities. I just don’t think that the mind can heal torn tissue, create glucose for additional physical energy, and all other things that follow the natural laws of the universe. There are physical and mental limitations that cannot be exceeded with even the best attitude and strongest beliefs.

What’s interesting is that we don’t exactly know our limitations and each of us has our own unique set. I prefer some uncertainty. Why pick a goal that you absolutely believe you can achieve? To me that approach lacks mystery and adventure. The most rewarding goal to work towards is one that we are not sure about. The road to this kind of goal is full of self discovery. You don’t have to believe you can reach the goal. What is more important is that you have a strong desire, the motivation and commitment to keep pushing forward.

A year ago I really didn’t know or believe I could finish Grandma’s. What I did believe in was that the road to Grandma’s was a good one to take, no matter how far I got. So I started down it one mile at a time and not knowing exactly where it would take me. There were times I thought that Grandma’s was out of my reach, but I never gave up. I wasn’t going to give up unless it was obvious that I could seriously harm myself. I’m sure glad I took that road.