21st Century Family

I remember when training in college with a friend (who was a triathlete) and the subject of our 6 or 7 mile run came up. He mentioned in passing that it was common knowledge that the first mile is always the hardest. I was training yesterday and thinking about this and hit the mile to mile and half mark and it got amazingly easier. The “second wind” or whatever phrase you want to pick kicked in and I was on cruise control. The body didn’t hurt as much and settled into a rhythm. However, the first mile was tough. My legs were sore from running the day before and my body felt heavy, my breathing was difficult and it just felt like I was running uphill. The amazing thing was that my mind wanted to find a million reasons to stop and walk during the first mile. Excuses start to pour in: you’re too old for this, still too heavy, should let yourself recover more, just relax a bit and enjoy it, etc, etc. There are so many things in life like this. To heal relationships it takes this same mentality. You make a kind gesture or extend a hand to your spouse or friend that is rejected you want to pull back and quit. You try to get your budget back in line and then get slapped with a medical bill and thank “awe, screw it…we’ll never get caught up….what does it matter anyway.” You start to get back in shape and get hit with an illness or business trip that knocks you off your routine so you just let yourself slide again. There are countless examples of things in life that require the “First Mile Mentality.” Don’t make excuses, suck it up, fight through it and make yourself keep putting one foot in front of the other until you are through that first mile and you start to find a “rhythm” and things begin to ease back a bit. If you get knocked to the ground or you are forced to “restart” at the beginning just expect that the “first mile” will be tough. In healing relationships the “first mile” might be two years long or two months long but the mentality has to be the same……one foot in front of the other!!