Yet, if there is one thing in which I excel, one dominion where I am peerless, it is mediocrity.
My biggest problem – nay, my curse! – is that I have dreams and ambitions that surpass my abilities. When folks speak of the “Average American,” I am he.
My visions of the future are heroic, but my natural talents are anemic. Yet I have indeed dreamed great dreams and realized most everyone that has entered my mind and heart. And I will continue to dream and hope and aspire, and I believe I will find ways to make these dreams come true.
Like most, I’ve known disappointment and setbacks. Oye veh, setbacks I have known. I’ve suffered great sadness and terrible depression, but through it all I consider myself a very happy person with no regrets and one who holds much anticipation for the great things yet to unfold. That which I have not accomplished is merely waiting for me to greet and master it.
My face does not appear on a Wheaties box, I’ve never been invited to Oprah to tell my story, and the Hallmark Channel has produced no made-for-television movies of my life. But despite my obscurity and unlikely superstardom, I am living the dream – my dream(s) – and will one day look back on my life with complete, utter fulfillment.
The concept of this blog began from my determination to convince friends they could run and finish a marathon. Having completed my first, the Marine Corps Marathon, I was full of pride for having accomplished something that by my measurement was pretty awesome and otherwise “impossible”. Before training for the marathon, a 26.2 mile race was perhaps one of the most ridiculous propositions I’d ever heard of. Convinced as I was to run it and actually finish it, I discovered strength, discipline and determination that I never knew I had.
A new proselyte of personal power and achievement, I wanted to share the good news of marathoning to my friends.
Occasionally friends would approach me to ask about training, racing, etc., because they were thinking of running a marathon. Every time I would react with used-car salesman enthusiasm and cry, “You can do it! You must do it! It is within your grasp and will change your life!” To be sure, my enthusiasm was certainly off-putting to most, but the excitement of the secret revealed was something I couldn’t contain. I had to share it!
I would offer to jot down notes, instructions, guidelines, and whatever to coach them through the marathoning process: an exercise, I discovered, that revealed much more to me than to them. Studying how hard work and set backs were characteristic of training, and that goal-setting and frequent adjustments in strategy were implicit in success (in this case crossing the finish line), it was revealed to me in a Taoist kind of way that the marathoning process is like life itself.
Taoist? Yeah, Taoist. Like, “Practice not-doing, and everything will fall into place.”
The marathon itself, I discovered, is a Big Thing. And like the Big Thing, the marathon is more than just a race; it is a metaphor. Yep. Sorry. A metaphor. Not a similie, not an analogy, but a metaphor.
The marathon metaphor taught me a lot about the race of life. I learned that anything is possible. Dreams can inspire and come true by setting big goals and small goals. And problems arise. The unexpected occurs. Pain is experienced. Your path is blocked. But lessons are learned. The course is corrected. Settings are adjusted. Energy is exerted. There is sweat, tears, sometimes blood. But we persist in the pursuit, grasp the brass ring and ultimately achieve victory.
There are those who write compelling blogs, deliver exuberant speeches, and produce inspirational infomercials on personal power that are recognized as experts. You may ask: do you, Paul, consider yourself an expert? To which I respond enthusiastically, perhaps.
How am I an expert?
In my opinion, there are no experts in living except those who go for it. I go for it. So I consider myself an expert. Look, I’ll never be a credentialed or bona fide expert in anything, so I’m giving myself this. OK? OK.
