About 10 years ago I started running for exercise. Maybe a little more. It was absolutely brutal to start out. I had to really convince myself that I was doing something good, and every day I found some excuse to want to do something else. Also, it hurt more, and I could only run 2-3 kilometres before finding that the whole experience was just too hard.
Then that 2-3 kilometres became 3-4, and eventually 16-20. All through that, everything just became… became easier. I’m not just talking about the running, it was deciding what pants to wear for the temperature, where to put sunscreen on. Knowing how my legs should feel. Knowing how tight to tie the shoelaces on my shoes so they were comfortable. Hell, knowing which shoes to buy became easier.
This experience happens with just about everything we do. There’s no way around it. The first time you decide to bake a loaf of bread, it’s all so daunting. All that kneading. When is it “done” ? Who knows. The thing you have to be aware of is that this extra ‘hump’ exists, and that you have to climb it.
I remind myself of this every time I try to learn something new, like I did this morning.
Robert Schönberger
robert strudel schonberger dot org
