My First Sprint

I was standing near the top of our sloped backyard. This was the first home I remember, on Manor Drive off of Penn Shop Road in Mt. Airy, Maryland. That’s a setting that hasn’t popped into my head in quite some time.

By myself in the backyard, I surveyed the stretch of grass separating me from the house. And I decided that I would run.

Not run like I did when I played tag with my friends. Not run as if my mom was calling me inside for dinner. Those were half-hearted, childlike jogs, sometimes accompanied by laughter.

I wasn’t going to run like that. I was going to run like I meant it.

I have no idea how old I was. Six? Seven?

I have no idea what led to this thought or what turned the thought into action, but for the first time in my life, I ran as hard and fast as I possibly could. I’d never pushed myself to that point. It had never occurred to me to do so.

I was shocked at how fast I could move, how my arms and legs all worked together to propel me to what felt like warp speed. It was the first time I ever sprinted and I still remember what that moment felt like.

When I came to a stop I was wide-eyed and smiling. Who knew that was possible?! I remember looking around the yard and wishing another human had been there to see me, or at least hear me try to express what I was feeling.

As an adult, so often I’m going through the motions. Not out of laziness or apathy or because I’m short on time (I’m always short on time), but because it’s simply not occurring to me that there is another level on which I could be operating.

I’m not saying we should all sprint (Ouch! My hamstring!). Or that life should be traveled at warp speed. If anything, I’m advocating for slowing down, just long enough to consider the possibilities…

Where are we slacking that we might up our game? What are we doing well that we might learn to do phenomenally well?

Honesty is the key here, because telling yourself what you want to hear defeats the purpose.

But if you slow down to give honest consideration to your efforts and the actions they produce, instead of going through the motions of each day, you might find new capabilities and strengths.

You might find yourself in a sprint, moving faster than you ever thought possible.