Paradigm Shifts

Ok, Paradigm shifts....

Last week I mentioned that this is when everything changes - in my case from driving a car as a means of transportation to walking. According to Allwords.com a paradigm is “a system of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality.”

So when this view of reality shifts do you adapt or hold on with all you got?

When it was suggested that the best way to lock in 3 miles = 5 kms was to walk to and from the ferry terminal from our apartment - I thought, Sure, doable.

I got dressed, put on my make-up, cute shoes & all and looked at my watch... 13 minutes. T o w a l k. “Take the bus”, my sweet, logical mind said. “You can’t be late.”

“But you’ve committed to changing your practices,” my hard-lined, clear thought countered.

OK, let’s do it.

Everything’s fine. I’m power-walking with my husband, who kindly accompanied me. Then I see the ferry... off in the distance... I have 5 mins left. And there’s what seems like an eternal stretch of sand in front of me.

“You can’t make it. Forget it.”
“Yes you can. Run maybe?”
Then my husband verbalizes it: We just have to run.

OK, there I go -- a red blur in sandals PANTING my way across the beach -- j u s t t r y i n g t o m a k e i t t o t h e p i e r...
Across seas of cool peeps chilling with their lattes I panted, grunted, sweated -- hubby clutching my hand for the last stretch. Then the clock said it all:

Time to departure: 00:02 mins

I couldn’t believe it! I had been convinced that this was a true mission impossible... (I’ll spare you my written rendition of the theme song!) But right there - not only was it possible, but I had 2 minutes to spare!!

I knew then that I had turned a corner. I’d made a total commitment to a health challenge from which there was no turning back. That even though some goals would seem impossible, they actually were attainable realities. My new reality. And I was in it. All in.

I ran 5 miles = 8 kms today. Yup, I’m all in.

Trailwalker