Face It and Embrace It

On Friday I attended an important meeting to present our company’s services to a group of potential new customers. It was stressful…public speaking always is…so I was nervous and sweating. At one point I even thought to myself, why am I putting myself through all this pain and stress? But fortunately, the presentation went well and afterwards I felt great. One of the customers actually placed a nice order with us before we left the building, so I would say the pain was worth it!

 

As I headed back to my office I found myself on a busy side street in Irvine only able to go about 15 miles per hour All of a sudden I noticed a young girl on the other side of the street, running along the sidewalk. What caught my attention was that her long pony tail was flying and so was she! She went by me like I was standing still. How was that possible? That’s when I noticed she had long spring-like metal blades attached to her legs. She was basically a blade runner except with normal legs, running super fast. Her steps were 2-3 times longer than a normal runner and with each step she flew 2’-3’ feet in the air. It was crazy to watch and the first thing I thought of was Forrest Gump.

 

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the movie Forrest Gump, but if you haven’t you should. It’s an exceptional movie and in the beginning Forrest is a small boy who has to wear metal braces to straighten out his legs. He can barely walk and because he is a bit “different” in other ways as well, the kids make fun of him. One day bullies attack him and his little girl friend yells, “Run, Forrest, run!” As he runs his braces magically break away and Forrest is able to run faster than any human alive. There are a lot of poignant messages in the movie but I think the message in that scene is, “Even though we may encounter obstacles in life, if we challenge ourselves, we can often come out stronger…and better!”

 

I don’t like public speaking and I don’t like jogging but I do them both. I think it’s because I realize that when I’m faced with a difficult challenge in my life, if I face it and embrace it…the pain is usually worth it.

Forrest Gump - Runnin'

The Irvine Blade Runner - Runnin' 

You can't run away from trouble. There ain't no place that far.

~ Uncle Remus