I sometimes think I was born to be an encourager. Don’t get me wrong, I can be a B!@*# when I want to be; but I have found that more often than not, I draw a lot of strength from encouraging other people.
I have suspected this about myself for a while but really started to see it when it came to the whole running/fitness and diet/nutrition pact that Lindsay and I are attempting to commit to. When I was in Tampa last weekend and ran 2 miles with Lindsay (the farthest I’ve ever ran at one time) I kept looking over at her and smiling and trying to yell encouraging things over the sound of our headphones (although she didn’t really need any of my encouragement) I felt like the run was easier for me while I was trying to lift her spirits. Actually, I thought, “Wow! I can do this 2 miles thing! I will have no problems doing it again when I get back home!”
I. Was. So. Wrong.
Standing in my gym back home with an overly toned, bleach blond, spray tanned, want-to-be model giving me the stink eye every time I tried to give her the old “we are both working out, and I acknowledge you as a person” smile. Here, the 2 miles seemed so much longer of a distance. So I start my run, not really stretched out since there’s no real place for me to do that, and no one to do it with. I run. I run. I start to realize I’m tired and not even a half-mile into this beast. I look around for someone to encourage me, but only catch eyes with an old lady who is looking at me the way most people do the first time they see me work out, fearful and concerned, she doesn’t know that purple color my face has become is normal for me. Next thing you know I’m just passing a mile and having to stop and stretch and deep breath, and get another dirty look from Ms. Super-Fit.
Then. Right then is when I realized. I don’t need someone to encourage me, I need someone to encourage. Someone to lift up, someone to make think that this run is easier for me than it really is, so they are more confident that they too can finish strong.
I’m not sure if I’m really talking about running anymore or just life in general; but here it is, a little bit of me for your consideration.