Apples to Oranges

Sometimes I forget that this weight-loss journey is about me. It's not about my friends or my family, although they help and encourage me every day. It's not about who's doing more or losing more weight than I am. It's not about anyone else but me.

Today I forgot that when I read a post by a friend who is doing incredible things in her life. She is running. She is running and she is doing fabulous and I felt a twinge of jealousy because she's faster than me.

I've been running off and on for a while and I am still SO slow. I know I'm slow, I know I'm not ready to train to get that much faster yet. So I will keep running. I'm not going to stop. This is my journey and I alone can race down my road. But I want to be faster.

I am so happy for my friend. Happy that she made the decision to do this and is getting so good! I'm happy that she's proud of what she's doing and the accomplishments that she's made. I'm happy that she is my friend and I am proud of her and all that she's done. But we are different people with different backgrounds and goals and skills. Her path is not my path, nor is mine hers.

So today I had to take a step back and remind myself that the only competition I face is myself. I want to run faster than I have run before. I want to run farther than I ever have. I want so much for myself that sometimes it hurts because I'm scared I won't accomplish all of these things. That make me even more scared because what if I refuse to try? That is so much sadder, so much scarier than trying and failing. To not try, to not see what I'm capable of, just the thought of it brings tears to my eyes.

And I will try. I will race my races this year. I will train and grin through the good times and the bad. I will get faster, how can I not? :D And then I will keep going. Keep training. Because the thought of the wind in my hair and the pavement under my feet is enough to keep me going on any day. I do this for me.