Runningmonkeys

Yesterday when I was walking through the park with my 2 year old daughter I learnt a very important lesson.

It is summer here and the local wildlife, particularly snakes, just love lying in the sun and doing their thing.  My daughter, also likes doing her own thing and when these two things interact there is plenty of excitement. 

The first thing I knew was that my daughter was yelling and doing a sort of crazy disco on the spot, as a decent sized snake wriggled and squirmed beneath her feet.  The snake wanted to get out of there, and so did my girl but they were both so hopelessly scared, that they were totally ineffective in their escapes.  Eventually, my daughter gained some traction and bolted out of there and the snake limped (if you can use that term about a snake) into the bushes to nurse its bruises.  There was no visible harm to my girl, but it was obvious that she was seriously shaken up by the whole episode.  We had a bit of a talk about it and kept on walking.

On the way home, we had to pass the same place again and there was nothing that I could say that would encourage her to give it another shot without being in my arms.  She was totally freaked out and understandably.

What occurred to me was that this is exactly the same thing that happens to all of us at times.  We have a negative experience and we automatically assume that the experience will happen again next time too.  Something bad happens and we can only imagine repeating the bad outcome the second time.  We simply can’t see a way that we can end up with a positive experience the next time we meet that same circumstance.

Think about the last time you had a negative racing experience.  Maybe it was something simple (you went out a bit too fast) maybe it was a little more complex (you went out way too fast).  Branded on your mind is now the impression that next time you race, you are also likely to go out too fast, and so you are hobbled before you begin.

How much more productive would it be for us to take each negative experience and treat it like it really is: a positive lesson. 

If my daughter was a little older maybe she could have understood that if she kept a look out, she need never step on a snake again.  The lesson from yesterday, could give her a permanent lesson that would help her for the rest of her life whenever she went walking in the park.

In our running context, when we have a negative experience, there are exactly the same kind of valuable lessons to be learnt.  If we learn a lesson from a negative experience, then we are empowered to avoid the same outcome next time.  We have just taken a massive step forward as a runner.  A bigger step forward than if we actually had a positive experience. 

A positive experience is golden.  It helps us there and then.  It feels great and we should aim for positive experiences, but negative experiences are where we make the most progress.  Embrace them and move forward.  If you are having negative experiences, then you are in a prime time for growth.  Negative experiences hold the key to our success in overcoming obstacles.