Sometimes even warrior get stuck with the house choirs and this little black duck is not immune. In an effort to keep Mrs Wombat happy and score some brownie points that will allow me to train after work I trudged through a mountain of ironing last night. The trade off for me was I put a DVD on... One of my favourite ones is "GATTACA" starring Jude law, Uma Thurman and Jude law.What I like about this movie is that it highlights the importance of self belief but more importantly the the role that desire and passion plays in our every day lives. Any of my followers who have seen this film (released in 1997) will know what I am talking about. To anyone who hasn't then it could be worth a viewing ...and its not a running movie.
Without spoiling it for those who may yet want to see it essentially it explores the realms of genetic engineering and parents pre-ordering DNA to assure their children of success. Of course the main character played by Ethan Hawke is one of the last children born without such fortune and later he has a brother who is.
For me the film high lights my deep held belief that desire and passion more than talent are the essential ingredients to achieving success in anything that we choose to do. I have long said that those of us who may be slightly less talented have to work harder than those who are and because of the fact that you have to work for something you tend to appreciate it a lot more that someone who just gets to take something for granted. Now I don't profess to be talentless as an athlete however at the same time I am by no means the most talented athlete around. I will say that I am prepared to work hard to achieve success or more importantly achieve the goals that I set myself. (some may refer to this as a good work ethic). I have raced against and beaten athletes who I consider to be much more talented that I but when the going got tough they found it too hard. For me on the other hand , well I knew what it meant to push... again I am not saying that I was the guts and glory of the running world...nor the wombat world... but the majority of successful people , athletes , business people etc have all had to work hard to get there...
A person who relies purely on talent , as a general rule, tends to take things for granted , they may not necessarily work as hard as the less talented individual so they don't' face hardship in the day to day struggle of their chosen field and so have difficulty in meeting a challenge of blocker when it appears. .. The battler , the person with desire and passion, the one who has to work understands what it takes to get their,they know what hardship is, they understand struggle so to them when the going gets tough its business as usual...
We have all seen both types of people in our travels, this little wombat could share many stories that highlight this point...
What is hard as a wombat warrior is overcoming the prejudices that people demonstrate towards us when they feel you may be exceeding what they perceive as our limits. They feel the need to place their limitations of their expectations of you onto you despite the fact that you may not place the same limitations on yourself....
While one person sees failure as a reason to give up another sees it as a learning opportunity to improve himself... I mean if someone long ago did not have the courage to set sail in a boat despite the fact that many thought the world was flat where would we be today... It is that sort of courage that each of us must find within ourselves to ensure that we reach our full potential as human beings...
A wombat warrior learns not to listen to the restrictions that others may place on us, unless of course that means they are in a car with a siren and we happen to be speeding, because more often than not others try to restrict you because of their own fears of failure...
I have found that if you don't set goals then you never disappoint yourself and if you never disappoint yourself then maybe your just not working hard enough...
Life is not easy , and it is not made easier by the knockers, but sometimes all it takes is a little self belief , a little self confidence and the courage to step out of your comfort zone for you to achieve great things. .... why not give yourself an opportunity to show the world your wombat and set a goal today......
Amazing what you can think about while doing the ironing and watching a DVD isn't it...
barrel on wombats...
Very useful rant Wombat. I notice Paul Tergat recently said in an interview that he does not believe a sub 2 hour marathon is possible because we are already near the limit. This reminds me of the psychological (and yes huge physical) barrier set out like an iron curtain before Roger Bannister broke the 4 min mile in 1954 and achieved what many people believed was not possible. Once it was achieved numerous runners achieved the same goal. Now, these are clearly two different things, however, the belief that it is achievable enables the genisis of the goal!
ReplyDeleteIroning sounds like Running - gets you thinking about the universe ...
ReplyDeleteoh, and The Knockers - gotta love 'em - aren't they just the best motivational tool?
Here are a couple of conversations that regularly happen in my experience.
The knockers:
'so when will you stop this marathon running?'
The Wombat: 'uhhh?'
The Knockers:
'it's bad for your body all that constant pounding on the pavement, isn't it?'
The Wombat: 'Not as bad as sitting on your big fat arse risking heart disease, diabetes, cancer, mental disorder or any other "lack of exercise" related illness'.
The Knockers: 'she's addicted to running'
The Wombat: 'no, I'm addicted to red wine, but I get a great deal of satisfaction and enjoy the discipline of trying to get the best I can from my body through running; hence my addiction to red wine sometimes has to go on hold'
oh, and my favourite ...
The Knockers:
'and how long is you next marathon?'
The Wombat: 'uhhh?'
I'll be pulling the Wombat out this weekend at Bunbury Marathon.