Today was another victory moment for me. Not a huge one, but it's not the size of the victory that matters, it's that you had one that counts. I ran my second ever 5k today. I hadn't fully recovered from my marathon three weeks ago, but it doesn't matter. You can't let anything stop you from reaching dreams that you have. If you are capable at all, then go for it, and if you fail, at least you failed trying rather than just sitting back wishing that you had gone for it.
I ran this 5k in 35:55, about 55 seconds faster than my previous 5k. And I didn't walk. To me that is the important part. I jogged slow for the whole thing, yes, and some of the people around me who walked a good portion of it still finished before me, but that doesn't matter. It's not about anyone else. It's about me. It's about becoming the best version of me that I know how to be. My foot started to kill about half way through. It's an injury that I'm not sure will ever leave me alone, and I was tempted to quit. Tempted even though for me now, 3 miles isn't such a daunting thought as it once was. But then I realized something. I realized that the pain, the weakness that I may have been feeling at that moment didn't define me. I am so much more than the weakest part of me. I have weaknesses, but by refusing to credit them, by refusing to let them become who I am, I refuse to give them power of me. I will probably always have the same weaknesses, maybe I will never fully get rid of the part of my brain that tells me that it's too hard and it's not worth it. But by refusing to listen to it, by refusing to give in to that nagging little voice that tells me I'll never make it, I become a little bit stronger, and by shunning weakness I can slowly turn it into a strength.
So today I dare you to stop defining yourself by your weakest part. I dare you to look beyond the things that you can't do and realize all of the many things that you can do. I dare you to stop comparing yourself to others and realize that it's only you and the things that you do yourself that matter. I think I finished 90th in this 5k, and if I compared myself to those other 89 people running in front of me, maybe it would have been enough to make me quit. But it's not. Those people don't matter. It's only the me that I leave behind everytime I improve that matters. As deny weakness a place in my heart and learn to love myself, that's what really matters. That's how I become stronger, and I dare you to do the same. I dare you to stop wasting the strength that you have on worrying about others. I dare you to remember that you are so much more than the weakness that is inside of you.
