SERENITY PRAYER - Practical Perspective...

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference..."   -Serenity Prayer

Here's a note to PBA's 2012 Freshman of the year, after Oklahoma XC Regional Meet which happened to be her slowest race of the season, prior to the Oklahoma State XC Meet.  Needless to say she was down in spirits and frustrated...

"Haha, I don't mean to laugh young lady, but hasn't this year already been surprisingly better than you could have asked for?  So, it's funny to me that the goal for the 2012 season being 12:30 and your hitting that under the most challenging circumstances - such as the very hilly course of ORU with an uncooperating stomach, and yesterday's breathing complications!

 

These are not excuses but more like experiences to learn from...learning how to control things we can control, like what to eat before a race and composing ourselves when these challenges arrive to still reach the potential for the day.

 

All that said...keep in mind the best performances, and I mean the ones where everything workout and our body fully responds to every step of our effort, our stomach actually cooperates, and our breathing actually supports our demand...these are beyond our control, those are the days we physically experience God's Grace in this endeavor and goal of running, these are days we race beyond our abilities in a sense.

 

Now that said, we don't know how or when God will reveal or share such an amazing experience with us.  So, we continue this ongoing process of pressing into our best through hard and smart work and taking care of the things we can control, especially the little details like hydrating, stretching, dynamics, mechanic drills to be efficient with every step, strength training to support our bodies throughout the process, nutrition, and a huge importance: prayer, time with family, and rest.

 

I can never say this enough...I'm so very proud of you, and it's a joy to see you run...which I'll get to do tomorrow..."

Ashley finished 5th in the State with a PR 11:40 for the 2mile.