A few patients will be running the Disney Princess Half Marathon this weekend in Orlando. I asked one if she was trying to beat a time. She looked at me confused and said, “You do it for the experience, all I want to do is finish.”
There are two types of marathons. There are ones like the Disney Half and there are qualifying ones (you’re concerned with your time). Since your career and PT school are more or less marathons, they can be classified into one of these half marathons. Are you running a Disney Half or a qualifying half?
In both marathons, you share the goal of finishing. But, what you do along the way is vastly different.
The qualifying half marathon you put on blinders. You see nothing, but the finish line. It is all you think about and you work hard to block the rest out. The result is all that matters.
In the Disney Half, you are there for the experience. You stop and take pictures. You look around and enjoy the scenery. You keep your focus on the goal of completing the race, but you also value everything happening around you.
I think there is a time and place for both types of marathons, but I think sometimes we end up signing up for all qualifying races. We become too worried about our performance and less concerned with the overall experience.
Every once in a while, make sure you look around and appreciate where you are rather than just where you’re going.
What race are you running?