How My Commitment to Wearing Tennis Shoes Made Me More Successful
By Christen Irving
I started off on this trail thinking, “This is going to be a piece of cake.”
I’ve always been an athlete after all.
So, I put on my spandex pants, a cute workout T-shirt, and grabbed my tennis shoes.
But… let me tell you upfront, before I decided to go on this hike, I was forewarned that it would be a difficult climb. But I didn’t hear ‘em.
This person has been a long time friend, an athlete like me, and we had already been talking about doing to business together. We just decided to take a moment out of our busy schedules and go on a hike while he was in town. I figured it shouldn’t take too long, maybe an hour and a half, or maybe two.
Plus, I’ve been on some local hikes with other friends and I figured it can’t be much different than what I’ve been on before.
Mannnnnnn… I was sooooo wrong.
It was literally a mountain (which made my former hikes look like I climbed a mole hill). And it was colder than what I thought… and I thought I should be cute. Smh.
Why? Oh why?
It was just me thinking I was going to impress somebody.
Nope. That did not happen.
I ended up cold (not freezing — but anyone that knows me knows that I hate to be cold). Had to suck it up though because I had already committed myself to the climb.
And the person I was with was a longtime friend, so he figured that I may not have realized the reality of the journey I was preparing to embark upon. He made sure to let me know that he had some snacks for me and water.
I’m so glad he did!
When we started up the mountain I again thought to myself “This won’t be so bad. I can handle it.“
We started with a good pace and a pretty level trail, but that was only until we reached a certain point in the path. Then he said, “Let’s start here… you lead the way.“
Start here?!… Start here???
I looked at him. I looked at the path and said to myself, “You’ve got to be kidding?”
Trail? That was no trail. That was rock climbing.
But, remember what I said before I started. I can do this. I won’t give up and I can’t give up. So, I didn’t… even though I really thought about it. I didn’t tell him though.
If you are an athlete or if you have ever been one, then you know these are the kind of thoughts that you usually don’t share. If anything you want to be a show off. And I figured I might be (but keep reading… you’ll see).
Inevitably, we ended up switching places. Instead of me leading him, he was leading me and it seemed like he was leaving me behind a few times. I was like, “This guy has got to be superhuman! Somebody had their Wheaties for breakfast!”
But to be fair, he had already told me that he had been up this mountain hundred times before, he just didn’t want to hike it alone.
And from the way he moved up the mountain, I knew he was telling the truth.
With every step that I took, it seemed harder for me to move. Every part of me ached… my feet to my fingers. I could barely breathe. And with every step I got closer and closer… to wanting to QUIT!
I am not a quitter!
But I realized, as I walked along, that when I faced challenges I didn’t expect to encounter, it made me want to go back to what was more comfortable for me. I longed for the flat trail from the beginning of our climb.
I think he saw that desire in me to stop because even though I was still moving, he kept telling me to keep going (like every 5 minutes). He knew somewhere within him that I could do more than I thought I could do. So, he pushed me.
How is it that he was the one encouraging me when I thought I would be the one to show off for him?
There are so many times in so many of us, that know we are in for a climb, but underestimate the heights that we have yet to reach, the obstacles we must encounter, and the true pathway that we must take to get there.
And sometimes the fact that we may need someone to encourage us to keep going.
Sometimes we need a person or the group of people that helps us to push past our own limitations because they have a different view of us than we do ourselves.
There are many of us who, also, want to travel the path alone, but are not prepared for the elements that we must face in order to complete the journey.
Who knew that my commitment to a hike in a pair of tennis shoes would change my whole perspective on life.
All this climbing helped me to realize just how unprepared and out of shape I really was and how much more difficult it was for me to reach the top then what it looked like to me.
But I also found out what I was made of.
I performed much better than I thought I would in the end.
Oh baby… when I hit that second wind, and my body kicked into overdrive, I actually found myself jogging different parts of the trail (not so much because I wanted to… mostly because my hiking partner stayed about 1000 feet in front of me doing squats, push-ups, and lunges to pass the time while he waited for me to catch up. Of course he would! Go figure.)
But it made the feeling that much more amazing when I realized I was not as slow and worn out as I thought.
It made me feel like an athlete on the mountain (not the old lady on the mountain- and I’m not that old).
We should do our best not to allow our old lady (or old man) moments in life or in business to slow us down or stop us from reaching the top. Sometimes it takes longer than we think, but keep moving in the right direction and they’re only be one result.
Success!
I only say this because my climb took much longer than I thought. We didn’t even make it all the way to the top (because closer to the top of the mountain the conditions changed… there was snow… and we both only had tennis shoes. So, that was a no go!) We were pretty close though.
But THE VIEW… was breathtaking. It was worth every body ache, and every huff and puff.
I thought to myself, “If I can make it through this trail today and up this mountain, then I can certainly make it past all the struggles that I face every day. I can be a better mom. I could be a better sister. I can be a better friend. I can even get my business to soar.
Nothing has to stay the way it is… I just have to push past my breaking points… and then I will see that I’m not easily broken.
And the same goes for you.
Who says that it has to end the way that you thought or felt? It may not have to end at all… Just because you face so much along the path in the beginning.
It’s not over.
It’s one thing to look at the mountain and it’s a whole other thing to be at the top of it.
There is a magnificence in the altitude. That is why we admire those who are at the top because they can see the things that we cannot, they can even share their perspective… and we can admire the beauty of it. But there is nothing that can compare to you having your own view.
Be careful not to get so caught up in others pictures and their perspective that you neglect to make the climb and take some pictures of your own.
No Photoshop necessary.
Besides… It’s not the same. And it will never do you justice.
The reward at the end of the journey is so amazing and so worth it. Everything that you’ve ever had to go through has a purpose.
You may be more prepared than you think to go forward.
The gift is in the grind. Don’t give up on it. The reality of your dreams have yet to be shaped.
You do have the tools to create your future.
Believe it or not.
You were made to climb mountains. And even if you’re not prepared for the journey, or it’s a little harder than what you anticipated, don’t stop moving.
Keep going… KEEP GOING.
Especially when you come to the points that challenge you beyond on your own understanding. When you look back, those will be the moments that you appreciate the most. They will strengthen you and make you wiser for the wear.
You will make it to the top.
And if for some reason you don’t reach the peak of the mountain and you find yourself having to start over, just remember your first climb up on the higher mountain and prepare yourself to master the next height in the journey…. Until you make it to the top.
You will get there.
All it takes is a lesson from the mountain, a pair of tennis shoes, and I will to continue on.
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