Nearly 40,000 people ran the London marathon yesterday. There were all shapes, sizes, ages, abilities, disabilities but everyone had one thing in common – they all did something that some people will never do.
What does it take to complete something like that? The first thing comes to mind for me is, they all have a reason. They have something that drives them to attempt this crazy feat.
All of these reasons differ. For some it is to raise money, others to complete a challenge and, for some, they want to win it! Whatever drives people to run 26.2 miles on a hot sunny day doesn’t really matter, what does matter is that they are part of an amazing event – and not many people can say that.
There are only 0.5% of the population who have run a marathon although nearly 600,000 do one each year.
I take my hat off to anyone who challenges themselves to achieve things that stretch them out of the ‘magical’ comfort zone. It could be anything though.
Some things I find comfortable, others don’t and vice versa, but the stretch is where the growth happens. When you feel uncomfortable, it’s normally because you are pushing the boundaries and doing something that requires more thought or effort.
Then there is that dread that you might look silly if you don’t achieve things straight away and that can stop you even getting out of the starting blocks!
The older I get, the more comfortable I am with not being perfect. I make mistakes and don’t always get things right but as long as I don’t hurt anyone else, who cares? I think having grown up children can really ground you, as they rejoice in the fact that you may do things wrong and actually highlight it at every opportunity (Or is that just my kids?).
There is always time to learn and laugh, as long as you learn!
What are you currently feeling nervous about doing? If the answer is nothing then you might just be staying in your comfort zone, which is ok in the short term, but life is forever changing and we need to be able to keep up.
If we don’t change we can get left behind and suddenly our comfort zone becomes our prison.
What is your next challenge and what can you do to ‘break out?’