Mind Over Matter

This morning I ran a 10 km course for the Terry Fox Run to raise funds for cancer. This is the 5th year in a row that I have run this race. I dedicated my run to my mother-in-law and my friend Jill. Both are battling the same form of blood cancer. The dedication wall was filled with handwritten notes: "I am running for..." My gramma. My mom. Aunt Michèle. Papa Jack. My friend Shirley.

Life is so very precious.

The Terry Fox run is a great event for folks of all ages and fitness levels. Families walk the course with kids in strollers, toddlers on trikes and dogs on leashes. Teenagers jog in groups making it more a social event than an athletic trial. Some "keeners" start fast and whiz by you like the wind. A bit later, it is your turn to pass them as they have run out of steam. (I always think of the Aesop's fable, TheTortoise and the Hare, when that happens. Slow and steady wins the race as they say.)

I even saw a man covering the 5km distance on crutches. A friend was keeping pace walking along side him. They were both wearing a T-Shirt that said "We can beat cancer". I couldn't help but wonder what was this man's story. Why was he so determined to participate even when he was injured? Something important was motivating him.

Why push yourself to do something that does not come easily? When I first started running I hated it. Using well-honed guilt tactics to drag myself outside to run. All my aches and pains seemed amplified and time seemed to slow down. I would bargain with myself: "I will run to the next tree and then I will stop and walk for a bit". Pretty soon the next tree turned into the next 5 minutes, and 1 km turned into 5 km. I felt so proud of myself when I reached that goal of 5 km. At the time I thought that for a forty something woman, 5 km was pretty darn good and had no ambition to go any further. (In my opinion, the best part of running is the feeling you get when you're done!)

My sister Lyne, who got me into the sport on a dare, is a natural runner. I cannot even come close to her speed and grace. She runs like a gazelle. Whenever we race toghether, I see Lyne for a split second at the start line and then she's gone, leaving me behind in her dust. She almost always wins a medal and often that medal is for best woman overall. So, I have made my peace, Lyne is not someone I can compete with. The only person I can measure myself against is myself.

If asked I might deny it, but I can be pretty competitive. So after winning a (bronze) medal for my age category in my first ever chip time 5 km race, I started to wonder what my next feat would be.

On a cool September morning in 2004 I registered for the Terry Fox run. The man who was in line ahead of me signed up for the 10 km race. He asked me what distance I was running and I replied meekly that I was running the 5 km. He asked me: "Why not the 10 km? I bet you could do it." Throughout the first leg of the run, I kept hearing his voice in my head taunting me. I started to consider that I might be able to run 6 or 7 km if I really tried. If it was too much I could always walk the rest of the distance.

As I was running the first 5 km, I changed my mind a dozen times fretting that running a longer distance would be just too hard. Then as I approached the 5 km mark and the volunteer indicated the turn off point to the Finish Line something clicked and I announced proudly that I was running the 10 km. The second half of the race was so much easier because my mind got out of the way and I let my body move me forward. I ran the 10 km distance, without prior training, in 53.30 min. A very respectable time if I do say so myself. I realized that day that running long distances was more about will power than physical ability. In a competition, my mind could be my biggest ally or the voice of doom. All I had to do was to become aware of the critical voice in my head and choose to think positive thoughts instead.

In a way, that is what Terry Fox was asking us to do when he set out on his Marathon of Hope 29 years ago.

Terry Fox was born in April 1958 in Manitoba but lived most of his life in British Columbia. Terry was a spirited young man who loved all kinds of sports. In 1977, at the age of 18, he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of cancer that strikes men more than women, usually around ages ten to twenty-five. Very often this form of cancer starts at the knee, then works its way up into the muscles and tendons. In Terry's case, his right leg was amputated.

Three years after losing his right leg to cancer, Terry Fox launched the Marathon of Hope. His vision was to raise $1 from each Canadian citizen to fund cancer research to find a cure. On April 12, 1980 he started his quest in St-John Newfoundland by dipping his right leg in the Atlantic Ocean with the intention of repeating this symbolic gesture in the Pacific Ocean at the end of his marathon in Victoria (BC). Terry was running an average of 42 km a day. Day after day, in all weather conditions, Terry ran a distance equivalent to a marathon.

He never finished his Marathon of Hope because his cancer came back. He had to give up his dream on September 1, 1980 just north-east of Thunder Bay, Ontario, after 143 days. He had run 5,373 km or 3,339 miles

While outside Ottawa, Ontario about 3,113 km into his Marathon of Hope, Fox said:

"...everybody seems to have given up hope of trying. I haven't. It isn't easy and it isn't supposed to be, but I'm accomplishing something. How many people give up a lot to do something good. I'm sure we would have found a cure for cancer 20 years ago if we had really tried."

Terry still believed when other had given up hope.

What is it that you could resolve if you really tried?

What are some limiting beliefs you have about yourself?

For example:

• "I'm too shy, I could never speak in front of a group."

• "I'm not creative."

• "I'm not good at math."

• "I can't dance."

• "I can't hold a note."

• "I don't have the right look."
  

• "I'm too fat, too short, too clumsy, too old, too young, to... (fill in the blank)

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BELIEVE IN AGAIN?

Do you remember how to play?

I hate to admit it but I was envious... After the first 4 km of our run on a warm summer day, my husband and his running buddy decided that it was enough running for a day and returned home. Meanwhile, even though I was feeling kind of sluggish, I continued on running with my girl friend. This was supposed to be my long run of the week (I am training for a half marathon this September) and I was going to run my 10 km no matter what - that was the plan and I had to stick to the plan. (I tend to be very determined - my husband would say that I am stubborn...) After a tough 10km run I came back home to find my husband, his buddy and a next door neighbour sitting in the back yard drinking beer and having a good old time. An impromptu party! My girlfriend joined them for a while until she had to leave for an appointment. I was there physically but I could not join them psychologically because in my mind I was running through my "to do" list. The "10km run" was now checked off my list but there was still at least 10 other things I wanted to get done by end of day. I was smiling outwardly but inside, I was stressing: "I can't afford to sit back and relax right now, I have too many important things to do. No time for fun yet." Even worse, I needed my husband's help to get the biggest chore done: cleaning out the basement to prepare of a guest who would be spending a couple of nights that week. So here I was getting upset at my husband for relaxing in the sun and getting angry at myself for being unable to let go and join him.

When I did my certification in Myers-Briggs Type Inventory Levels I and II (MBTI), the trainers led us through some exercises to highlight the differences between types. I recall vividly doing an exercise that was meant to differentiate between people who are judging and perceiving. People with a preference for judging like to have closure and make quick decisions. They are the type of people who have a mile long list of things to do. Checking off an item on that list gives them immense satisfaction. People who have a preference for perceiving like to go with the flow and keep their options open. They don't like to make plans ahead of time and leave themselves lots of flexibility to seize opportunities as they emerge. If you were to plan a trip with someone who is judging on the MBTI scale they would have the plane tickets and the hotels booked way ahead of time and would most likely have a detailed itinerary for the trip that describes the planned activities for each day (what museums / sites to be visited, where to eat and even a list of local souvenirs to pick up as momentos). If you are more of a perceiving type on the MBTI scale, you might book the tickets closer to the date of departure, have an idea of where to stay on the first few nights and then trust that you will figure out what to do next as you chat with the locals or exchange tips and tricks with other tourists.

So back to the exercise that the trainer led us through. On one flipchart she wrote "I can play anytime" and on the other flipchart she wrote "I can play once my work is done". We were then asked to go stand in front of the flipchart with the sentence that most related to ourselves and explain our choices. Guess what flipchart I chose? Of course, I chose the flipchart that said "I can play once my work is done." The problem is that the work is NEVER done in my opinion so I almost never let myself play. Honestly, I don't think I remember how to play...

Which flipchart would you have chosen? Why? Are you content with your choice? If not, how can you re-establish a better balance?

A UCLA study demonstrated that at five years of age we engage in creative tasks 98 times a day, laugh 113 times, and ask 65 questions. By age forty-four, we are creative only twice a day, we laugh only 11 times, and ask a measly 6 questions. I was not surprised to see those stats but nonetheless I think it is a shame. How are we supposed to ride the constant wave of change if we don't take the time to imagine new ways of doing things, finding the humor in every day life and asking the "why" and "why not" questions more often?

I would like to reverse this trend. Ghandi said " Be the change you want to see in the world". So I will start with changing myself. This week, I will experiment living without a "to do" list and let the current of life inspire my actions. What about you?

Excellence: a lesson in mastery

Psychologist Anders Ericsson has devoted much of his academic life to understanding why some individuals are better at certain tasks than others. Are people born with the abilities to achieve excellence and elite status in their field? Is excellence encripted in our DNA?

His research has demonstrated that in fact, physical or mental prowess is not a genetic gift but rather a function of knowing how to enhance your skills through deliberate PRACTICE. For example Ericsson describes how figure skaters practice differently on the ice: Olympic hopefuls work on skills they have not yet mastered but club skaters tend to focus on skills they have already mastered.The master of any sport or game is generally the master of practice.

In his most recent book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell also explores the keys to success. "I'm interested in people who are outliers—in men and women who, for one reason or another, are so accomplished and so extraordinary and so outside of ordinary experience that they are as puzzling to the rest of us" He cites as examples Bill Gates and Wayne Greztky. Part of the reason for outstanding success is what he calls the 10,000-Hour Rule. Research has shown that the path to excellence in any field has nothing to do with talent. It's simply practice, 10,000 hours of it — 20 hours a week for 10 years.

George Leonard offers a philosophical explanation for mastery in his book entitled Mastery - The Keys to Long Term Fulfillment, George Leonard offers a philosophical explanation for mastery. Leonard says "Perhaps the best you can hope for on the master's journey - whether your art be management or marriage, badminton or ballet - is to cultivate the mind and the heart of the beginning at every stage along the way. For the master, surrender means there are no experts. There are only learners." (p. 88)

Do you remember the scene in the movie Karate Kid where the master asks the young student to wash the car over and over in a prescribed way? "Wax on, wax off." The student is frustrated but he persists because he respects his master and is determined to excel in Karate. The Zen master would say that for a "would be" master satisfaction is gained in the discovery of an infinite richness in the subtle variations on a same theme. Practice requires an ability to take pleasure in the endless repetition of ordinary acts.

We all want to be special. It is tempting to call ourselves masters in our field especially in this day and age where we seem to have a fixation on "experts".

A friend of mine, Bob Chartier, tells this story about the poet John Keats who invites a young man to his house for tea. The man proudly declares to Keats that he is a poet. Keats cautions him on calling himself a poet. The young man may be someone who writes rhyming verses and expresses sentiments through words but that does not necessarily make him a poet. According to Keats, it takes someone else to read what you have written and declare that you are a poet before you can call yourself a poet. "Poet" is a gift word. "Poet" is a word that you bestow upon someone who represents the essence of what is a poet to you. I would suggest that "master" is also a gift word. You cannot call yourself a master until someone else has watched you working at your craft and declare you a master.

What is it that matters so much to you that you are willing to practice it over and over for the simple pleasure of learning? Practice may lead you to excellence and who knows, maybe someday someone will say that you are a master at your craft.

For more information on Malcolm Gladwell you can visit his website:
http://www.gladwell.com/

Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-term Fulfillment by George Leonard
http://www.amazon.com/Mastery-Keys-Success-Long-Term-Fulfillment/dp/0452267560