Sometimes we need to lay down our pride and set aside our personal goals to culture the best things in life, like family relationships
This year has been a lot of fitness ups and downs for us: I missed out on the triathlon I had been training for since the date was changed, I couldn’t run the 18-mile trail race that we had signed up for due to tendinitis in my knee again, and I’ve had to take my strength training down a notch to accommodate my body.
On the plus side I got 2 new certifications (my YogaFit Level 1 and my ACE Health Coach cert.), but I missed out on some things this summer and that made me feel bummed. I’m also back in physical therapy for my knee and now for pelvic floor pain (I’ll share a post on that down the road). Yay
These aren’t things I like to think about or dwell on since they are frustrating to me, but it is good for me to think about them long enough to remember that these are all important life experiences that teach me how to set aside my pride and do what’s best.
I need to allow myself to feel and not bury those feelings of disappointment, anger, frustration, and the death of my ego in order to grow.
One of the things that I have learned this spring and summer going throughout this year has been letting go of my pride. I really got to thinking about this during one of our first 5Ks this summer when I ran with my kids. I’m no where near a fast runner, but I enjoy racing since I am competitive and it keeps me excited about running and gives me things to work towards.
My kids ran the 5K with me, but my son hates running by himself. My daughter ran ahead with one of her friends, so Gabe was alone and started crying since he was upset. I stopped and went back to find him, and finished the race with him. I wanted to run fast (well, fast for me) to get a good time, but I knew my son wanted someone to finish the race with him.
I swallowed my pride, I set aside that nice race time, and I stayed with my son instead of going on ahead. It was the slowest 5K I have ever completed but it was good to connect with my son and encourage him to finish. That’s what matters most 🙂
Now my son can run the races by himself just fine, but that day he needed a little nudge to finish the race. I put aside my personal goals to help him get to the end.
Life is full of opportunities to set aside our pride. Since I have FAI, I can’t move as well as others in yoga, but I have to let my pride go and modify so I don’t injure myself. There are some yoga poses that I simply cannot do (happy baby pose is more like ouchy baby pose for my hips lol).
Telling people that I had to withdraw from the 18-mile race was tough. I’m not a quitter, I don’t want people to remember that I had to quit before I even started. But I had to let my pride go and do what was best.
I hate that I have to keep battling tendinitis in my knee, impingement in my hips, food allergies, and interstitial cystitis, but I keep reminding myself that those thorns in my side keep me humble and help me relate to others who struggle with those things, too.
My personal post today is just a little reminder that it always okay to adjust our goals and things we do in life for better things. It’s healthy for us to set aside our pride and run a slower race if we need to, or miss a race altogether if our body needs it. It’s okay to live an imperfect life 🙂
Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie. She’s a food allergy mom and healthy living blogger based in Wyoming. Sarah is also an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer, ACE Certified Health Coach, Revolution Running certified running coach, and an ACE Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist