There’s always a point, about midway in any long race I’ve run, where I feel terrible. Where I dont want to go on and where I question what the hell I’m even doing on the course.
Beyond races, I’ve had similar feelings in long projects, big goals, and sometimes even in relationships.
It’s the fuck-it stage. When everything just sucks. When it feels like nothing’s worth it and the motivation is at the lowest.
There is a trick I’ve learned, however, that I employed today. It may sound counterintuitive, it may even feel a bit destructive, but it’s always worked for me and has been helpful advice ccx for others.
The simple trick is to quit. To give up. To throw the towel in and admit you don’t have it in you to move forward.
You may do it for a moment, as I did face down in snow in the middle of a 50 mile race one time. You may do it for a few hours, as I’ve done with jobs leaving in the middle of the day. Or you may do it for an entire day, as I’ve done today watching more movies in 12 hours than I have in months.
See, whenever I quit, it allows me to realize that some of the weight I was carrying was actually not mine to carry. It allows me to re-asses and re-engage on my own terms. And, most of all, it reminds me that continuing to move forward is a choice, a conscious connection to a bigger purpose. One I may have lost sight of, but one that is worth working towards even at a much slower pace.
I feel I’m, and perhaps (we’re), at this point in the marathon we’re all running together. And, if like me, you need to quit for a bit, go ahead.
The race is gonna be long and sometimes it takes giving in for a while to to find the strength to not completely give up.
Know that we’ll all be hear when you get back up again. And whatever pace you choose to begin with again is the right one. Because any choice to move forward connects us all to that bigger purpose.
