I was doing some roadwork (that’s cool martial arts speak for running) recently. I ran about 4 miles. I realize I wasn’t going super fast but as I was running, a car drove by and some punk yelled out the window, “Go faster.”
At first, it kind of annoyed me. For a split second I thought about chasing his car down and seeing if he had anything else he wanted to say. Then I came to my senses and realized I was a 40 year old father of 3.
I had a choice.
I could let his stupid comment frustrate me and ruin my run or I could laugh it off.
You see, we always have a choice for how we react. I couldn’t control him making that comment but I could control how I reacted to it. I decided to take it a step further.
I thought, “What could I gain from that comment?” The reality was I think I did need to go faster. I was coasting a bit. I was up early, had a busy day, and was happy to be squeezing something in.
From there I had another thought. I often talk about the tortoise and the hare. The tortoise slowly plods along and always beats the hare who is faster but not as focused.
I wonder if the famous Aesop fable analogy gets taken too far sometimes. Yes, we need to be patient and move forward a little at a time but there is a place for turning up the dial and not only staying focused but pushing the intensity.
So I turned up my speed and my run left me huffing and puffing. To the young punk who yelled out the window to go faster, thank you! It was a great reminder to push the pace. What area do you need to turn up the ACTION?