Pass It On, Baby!: Helping someone else achieve a personal goal

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Just to take us off focus of the holiday season for a moment. I thought I would share with you a little about what I've been doing personally for the last few months.

I have been training for nearly 5 months for a 1/2 marathon. Let me first clarify by stating that I am not a runner, never been a runner and not sure I will ever really enjoy running. I did track and stuff but it was mainly for social reasons and I always ran short distances - like less than a mile. So when my gym friend asked me to join her in training and participating in a 1/2 marathon, I really thought she was crazy especially for asking me! :) (I hadn't ever ran more than 3 miles EVER!)

Training for this hasn't always been easy. There have been time commitments (sometimes running upwards of 2 hours), falls, physical ailments, and weather conditions to fight. But all in all - I am very excited that I am less than 5 days away from achieving this personal goal.

Quite frankly, this wasn't my goal though. It was my friend's goal. I really started this whole thing off wanting to help her achieve her personal goal of running in a 1/2 marathon. I think at the time, I thought I would probably end up backing out but somehow knowing each week she was waiting to meet me gave me gratification.

My friend has never been a runner either. And she always likes to remind me that she's 52 so she thinks that age is against her. She has never done anything athletic in her whole life and just recently took up running a little over a year ago. This accomplishment for running in the 1/2 marathon is HUGE for her. I guess I never really knew how huge until we ran our last long run this past Sunday. She came up to me with huge tears in her eyes as we were stretching and preparing to leave. She started off by saying that she would be pretty emotional this week because she can't believe she has finally made it to the last week prior to the race. She continued with tears and choking on her words to explain how she would have never been able to train for this week-in and week-out if it hadn't been for me running with her. Especially on the longer runs when we have hit 10 - 11 miles. She said she doesn't know if she would've had the drive or motivation to continue moving forward and persevere especially during a couple runs when she felt like quitting. I kept telling her she could do it. All along I believed in her and knew she could accomplish something she didn't even know she could. She also mentioned how her family doesn't really realize how important this has been to her. Not really understanding why she has been making such a big deal about having friends or families see her to the finish line. But I have always understood as I have participated with her. Her speech touched me in such a special way. I had been unconsciously aware how important this goal had been to her and how important my participation and partnership with her through this had been. Now I know.

I'm not saying we all should go start training for 1/2 marathons but this feeling of gratitude has definitely inspired me more. It's provided me a light of fulfillment knowing I helped someone else to achieve a personal goal. What could you do to help someone else or even yourself to achieve a personal goal? It could be as simple as putting them in touch with the right person, giving them a referral, being there for them the first step they take, helping them to set smaller goals to achieve the larger ones, or being side by side each step of the way encouraging them to continue and believing in them even when they may not believe in themself. All this may sound tough to do especially if you are finding tough times for you and your family. I'm right there with you - experiencing those tough times. But it sure does help take the focus off of what I don't have when I'm able to give something to someone else. Especially in helping them achieve a huge personal goal.