But sometimes? Running is HARD. Like on Tuesday evening.
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| This is my, 'Meh, I am glad that run is over' face. |
During the run, in an effort to distract myself from my tired legs, I let my mind drift and got to thinking about how we tend to assume that life is easy for others. Maybe someone reads this blog and hears me wax poetic about running and thinks it comes easy for me - but they don't see me slugging through the tough runs like my run on Tuesday, or mentally (and sometimes verbally) cursing during hill and speed workouts. Sure I have great runs and experience a runners high, but I've put a lot of deposits in the pain bank over the years to get to the point where I can say I love running, bad days and all.
But isn't this assumption that things come easy for others the case with a lot of things in life? It seems like we tend to look at other people's lives and think that their relationships, careers, or healthy lifestyle, among other things, came easy. I know I'm certainly guilty of this. But I'd venture to guess that most people would not use the word easy to describe their lives or achievements.
This is becoming a rambling, meandering post, but my take away is that we should stop assuming aspects of others lives are easy because we are setting ourselves up for failure by thinking that. No matter what goal you are working towards, it's inevitable that you'll face challenges and have bad days and want to quit, but I think it's important to remember that everyone feels that way at one point or another.
Is there an area of your life that others think comes easily for you?
Great post! Isn't that the truth?!?! I think we can all relate to what you're saying! You always write posts that make me nod my head the entire time I'm reading them. I think we are often inundated with advertising and propaganda that leads us to believe anything can be achieved with very little "work" and this is why people throw in the towel when they are not successful immediately. Many people lack the drive to really put forth effort and then become upset (and quite jealous) when things appear to come effortlessly to others!
ReplyDeleteBy the way---you look really pretty---not "meh" at all in your photo :) I'm serious!
I totally agree with this post, and I was just talking to Eric about something similar the other day. Basically what I was saying is I fall into this grass is always greener thing even with myself. So when I was staying at home all the time I was like 'This will be easier when I'm back at work, I'm more of a working mom person." Then when I was back at work I was like "This is still hard, maybe if I had a part time job this would be easier..." Now I'm currently working part time just this week and I'm like "Okay maybe this isn't the ideal part time schedule, maybe if I worked full days but not every day..." I had to stop myself and give myself a reality check at this point. It's not going to be easy, but there are pros and cons to all situations. This is true for you and running, it's not going to be easy but you will have good runs and bad runs and so will everyone :)
ReplyDelete"But isn't this assumption that things come easy for others the case with a lot of things in life? It seems like we tend to look at other people's lives and think that their relationships, careers, or healthy lifestyle, among other things, came easy."
ReplyDeleteSo true! I think sometimes people think that about my relationship with Ben - that it's so easy, but we have a great relationship because we WORK at it. And I don't share the fighting stuff on social media or with people because I think sometimes friends can only remember the bad, and keep that impression for a long time.
The biggest thing I've learned through this infertility journey is everyone is always dealing with SOMETHING.
I've heard that social media accentuates this - we only see the positive, happy posts from others - but i don't know if that's entirely true; I have at least one facebook friend who complains constantly ;-)
ReplyDeleteLove this post, totally agree. I always try to remind myself that everyone is dealing with something. No one has it easy. I love running but I have one of those kind of runs at least once a week or every other week.
ReplyDeleteI think getting back into running is so hard! I can understand why people say they hate it. I almost wish I would have kept running more after I hurt myself (once my injury healed of course), because I have no motivation for it anymore
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of what my dad always told me growing up "you never know what goes on behind closed doors." Kind of the same as you talk about your achievements! I don't know if there is anything people think is easy in my life; if they do, they don't tell me!
ReplyDeleteAwesome post, Lisa! I agree with all of your points. I hated running at first but now I love it, including the bad days, because I know they make me a stronger runner. A lot of people think running and eating healthy come easy to me but it's definitely not always the case. Making healthy food choices is something I struggle with often - I love ice cream, chocolate, fries, etc., and sometimes it takes a lot of willpower to say no and choose the salad or piece of fruit. I still have plenty of bad runs that make me feel completely incapable of reaching my goals. We all have bad days but it's a lot easier to make our good ones public and not talk about our bad ones.
ReplyDeleteoh yea. Nobody has it easy and life isn't fair to anybody. that's the only thing that is fair - everybody gets screwed.
ReplyDeleteI love talking to people to find out how they did something that I wish I had done. One friend lives in a house where I would love to be, giant, beautiful, culdesac, costs twice as much as my house but his income is about the same as mine. Turns out, he's been there 8 years and keeps refinancing to get the payments down to something affordable so he still owes 30 years on his mortgage. terribly stressful. He sold a house in CT to move down here after it doubled in value so he had a huge down payment, and could now basically sell his house and pay cash for mine. But his wife wants to stay there instead. so she has issues. I find it fascinating.
Love this post. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes, "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."
ReplyDeleteGreat post and very valid point! I think everyone has challenging runs but it just makes the good days all that much better. I tend to think that social media has probably heightened the "life is peachy for that person" view since most of what tends to post is the positive...?
ReplyDeleteThis is such an important post topic! I don’t believe anyone looks at my life and thinks things are easy. The only thing I can think is maybe my relationship with my mom, but oh boy, that’s NOT true at all. Ha. We have our squabbles and times when we totally annoy one another. ;) I think it’s so easy to get caught up in what other people are doing and thinking they don’t feel the same struggles as you do. Whether that’s related to healthy living, or careers, or relationships. But EVERYONE struggles… and I think it’s important to show those struggles. To let people know it’s not always easy, but that’s okay, it’s still worth trying for.
ReplyDeleteYes yes yes! This relates so closely to that comparison quote that I know you've shared before and I also love. It's hard to remind ourselves of this sometimes, but also such an important reminder.
ReplyDeleteEven though I work out 4 days a week at 5:30 - 6am my first thought almost EVERY SINGLE ONE of those days when my alarm goes off is 'nooo' and I want to go back to sleep. But I force myself to get up and go. It still hasn't gotten easier though. I think that's the other thing, sometimes things just don't get easier, but you do them anyways!
Love this! You are so right! People often feel bad about their own lives, only becuase of what they see or assume about others. The thing is - people are blogging or adverstising their marital or financial problems - or their struggle with depression!
ReplyDeletePeople are always saying things about how "it must be nice to love working out so much". It wasn't always like that, and takes discipline (and control) every day!
Great post. So true!! I have a love hate relationship with running!!
ReplyDeleteRunning is SO hard!! Omg, I have tried a few times to become a runner, and I just can't do it. It's not my thing. I can sprint, but I can't maintain a reasonable pace in order to run any sort of distance.
ReplyDeleteI just read about all the rain you've been getting there :-( It still hasn't stopped raining here, and the fire department has said not to shower or flush! YIKES!!!!! I'm scurrred!
I have often been told in regard to my career/school and other things in life, that it seems I didn't have to work hard or struggle to get what I have. That frustrates me SO much, as the people making these comments have NO idea. Just because I refrain from complaining a lot does not mean I haven't had to work really, really hard.
I truly admire your going on. Especially with the RA and heat -- bravo to you. And I couldn't agree more.
ReplyDeleteMy area that people think I'm great in is working the crowd. What they don't realize is that I am quite shy and quiet around people I don't know, so this is very hard for me!
So true, Lisa, so true. It's interesting, because I was reading up on hydration vests a few weeks ago to see what might work best for me. And, I wound up reading some threads in a running forum. The "expert" runners there were shaming someone for considering a hydration vest for what they considered "not long enough" runs. "You should be able to run 6 miles without water or energy gels." "You don't need a hydration vest if you're running under 7 miles." And so on. I was REALLY appalled. Because, I can run 3, maybe 4 miles without hydration. After that, I'm screwed. And it's only since I started running again after pregnancy. My body has changed, inside and out, and what it requires to keep moving is drastically different than before. So, yes, I actually DO need to consider hydration for 6-7 mile runs, ESPECIALLY if I plan to run in areas that do not offer consistent water fountains. ANYWAY, one of the thoughts I had after reading those comments was "You don't know me. You don't know my situation. You don't know how hard I have to work to run 7 miles. And you know what, just because I have to work a little harder to run my 7 miles doesn't mean they're any less important than your easy 7 miles - at the end of the day, we still ran the same distance!" =)
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