The Race is the Reward – What is Your Reward?
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In life? In Relationships? In Family? In Love? In Your Job?
Can you answer this question in the context of the above subjects? Can you do it quickly or will it require much thought? Maybe you can’t even answer the question at all.
People often look at crossing the finish line and receiving a medal or a score or a “congratulations”, or a kiss from a loved one – any of these – as the reward.
However, it really is your just toeing the starting line that is the real reward. Reward for what? Well, I suppose it will depend on your definition of ‘reward’ but if you examine your life and see that you have trained hard (worked hard) for some event (race), then your being able to participate in the race is actually the reward – REGARDLESS of the outcome!
I have to remind myself of this repeatedly, especially this year. Even last year as I had to drop out of the run across Tennessee I had to continue to think that at least I made it to the ‘ferry’ as we say and began the race. I could have dropped out 2 weeks before when I got injured but I didn’t. My reward was being there with everyone and enjoying their company and commiserating together (that’s always fun) about the heat and humidity. We were having a ball even though conditions were rough. It wasn’t about “winning” the overall race at that point. We had already won by having the courage to make it there. And then we were hoping to have a “win” in our own way as we progressed through the days and across the miles. I had a mini-win even though I didn’t complete the 314 miles. I made it 1/3 of the way and loved seeing Tennessee and meeting such wonderful people along the way. The 104 miles I made were additional rewards for me after I reached the start.
You can look at each day’s awakening as a reward and probably should be blessing it as you wake up. Think about the good that will come during the day. Think about how your life will evolve today. Vow to make it the best possible day you can. That is not the Pollyanna way of saying “I will make this the best day of my life” – you don’t have to do that. You can simply profess that you will make it the best you can. I heard something this morning that I am going to try. Every time you meet up with someone say “I love you” to yourself. This is a way of acknowledging that that person is doing the best they can no matter what comes out of their mouth that might have irritated you had you not realized that is not their intent. It’s making a conscious effort to change how I look at everyone and how I interpret what they do or say. Should be interesting. So what will be my reward for that experience? Observing what happens when I use this technique. Sound stupid? Maybe – but it helped this one person and I like trying new things that make me feel better.
What else can you consider to be your reward? Would it have to be finishing a project? Or could it be just starting it? What about meetings you have to attend even if you don’t enjoy them. Make them your reward for having your position. Often, people think of a meeting as a punishment but would they be at the meeting if someone had not put them into a higher position – rewarded them with more pay, more power? So, instead of being down about having to attend a meeting, look at it as a symbol of your worth and look to either contribute something special or at least take away something special.
Trying using this different frame of mind as way to reframe your life and thought pattern. Journal about it. See what ideas or concepts come out of this process. Find your fears, find your courage areas, find yourself.
Let me know how it goes. Try the “I love you” with everyone you talk to!
Terrie
Momentum Monday
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“There are always those who thrive when masses are dying of sickness. There are always those who thrive economically when economic decline seems to be the order of your nation. There are always those who are clear-minded in environments of confusion. You do not need everyone or anyone else to align with your desire—only you need to align with your desire.” ~Abraham [Excerpted from the workshop: San Francisco, CA on March 08, 2003]
This is such an important concept in this day and age! We have to stop looking around us and comparing ourselves to others or worse yet, judging our chances by the success or failure of those around us. You cannot make any determinations from outward appearances. Abraham here is really talking about your vibrations and those of others. The person who succeeds has the greatest vibration and will succeed no matter what people all around him (or her) do, no matter what the economic circumstances are.
The masters of New Thought/Metaphysics have preached this for the longest while. It’s all about what’s inside of yourself and where your vibrational plane is. The higher the plane, the more successful you’ll be. The more you feel that the outside world governs what happens to you, the more you’ll flounder around on the waves letting the elements control your life. That is NOT what you want. You want to control your own life. You do not want to be tossed about trying to reach here and there to find something to grab on to. You want to plot your own course on the sea of life!
Put your blinders on and steer yourself along your own path. Do not let anyone or anything get in your way. If you run into an obstacle, you probably attracted it so 
think of it as a personal creation and see how you can jump over it and make your road even smoother. The people who fail in life look at the obstacles as if someone else placed them in their path instead of recognizing that they, themselves, attracted them and therefore they serve some purpose. It’s your task to figure out why you brought this obstacle into your way and then what the purpose of it is and how to use it to your advantage. Don’t think of it as anything negative or bad. It’s not. Remember that everything is about perception and if you perceive an obstacle as insurmountable, it will be. If you look at it as an opportunity, it will be!
Your success is NOT dependent upon anyone else. Never think that. It’s all about you and how you use the Laws of the Universe!
Terrie
Momentum Monday
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“If you guide through anything other than your own example, it crosses over into the category of control. If you say, ‘This is what I’ve found that works for me, try it if you like.’ That’s guidance. If you say, ‘This is what I’ve found works for me, and if you don’t follow it, you’re in trouble,’ that’s control.
~Abraham
[Excerpted from the workshop: Sedona, AZ on August 31, 2002]
Talk about control – I’m upset right now – I wrote this entire post and hit “publish” and it all disappeared. What is that trying to tell me? That’s actually pretty funny 🙂
Anyway – I think we can all benefit from paying attention to this quote. Control is a form of resistance and if we have resistance in our life, we “resist” all the good things that we want to come into our lives. It behooves you to examine your life for whatever types of control you are trying to exert and then see what you can do about it.
You can give advice that’s beneficial for others but you lose a lot of energy if you are so invested in the result that you’re upset and disappointed if that other person does not take your advice. If you don’t like others telling you what you should do with or in your life, why should others take your advice as gospel? Just offer it and then let them decide what will work for them.
Change not only your wording when you offer your opinion to others but change your mind too. Do just that – tell them something that has worked for you, but don’t make it sound like or seem that it will definitely work for them. After all, who can eat Subway every day and lose tons of weight – without other lifestyle and mind changes? But you don’t hear about those other changes in the advertisements. Look at all the other diet and exercise programs and you’ll see the same – “this worked for me, so obviously it will work for you”. If you’ve ever followed some program like that and NOT succeeded, what happens, you don’t say “well, there really isn’t one size fits all for everyone” – no, you think that there’s something wrong with you. Do you want others to feel that way after you’ve talked to them? I don’t think so. Change how you talk to and write to others. Offer them information and let them do what they want with it.
Bottom line is to let go of everything that is not in your control and this includes many things in your own life and mind.
Crossing One Finish Line Takes You To The Next
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You know that at this time of year I have to post something about racing…ha ha.
However, most parts of a running life are analogous to our lives in general. And no more so than when getting to the finish line. Reaching the finish line in life isn’t about death but about achieving something (a goal you’ve set for instance). Just as a runner does not stop running when one race is over, we don’t stop living or setting goals just when one goal is achieved.
You always have to have another goal or plan in mind. If not, you’ll end up with the “is that all there is” syndrome. The bigger the goal or accomplishment, the more important it is to have something planned to shoot for next. Otherwise you’re liable to plummet into depression so deep you don’t know what to do about it.
Your achievement or accomplishment may or may not lead to the next thing you want to go after. Perhaps you’re on a roll and are building up to something even larger – for example a runner might start with a 5K and gradually make it up the scale to a marathon or ultramarathon or even multi-day events. Or, it might be that you’re ready to move on to something different in your life so your next goal might be completely new and unique. There is nothing wrong with that at all. What is important is that you do have someplace else to go.
Give yourself some time to rest and recuperate after you complete the race (goal) – relax and don’t think about much of anything – revel in your success. Then allow yourself some time to reflect on what happened – what went right and what went wrong and what you might have wanted to do differently. Use this as constructive “life” time, not just for that particular goal. Take the lessons from this one event and see how to apply it to your life in general.
Now it’s time to move on to the planning and achieving of your next goal. All you had to do is figure out what your goal was while working toward the other one. You did NOT have to plan how you were going to achieve it. Just having something to aim for next is the key. Once you’ve rested, relaxed and taken inventory, it’s time to plan for this new endeavor. You can apply all you’ve learned previously to your planning efforts now!
What’s your next finish line? Can you see it yet?
Terrie