Ten of my team members and I signed up to do a 10k, 20 obstacle course, mud race—one that none of us have officially trained for and one that has been rumored to be quite hard.
These are the types of messages that were being sent in our group chat:
- “Outfit picked, salvation army shoes, nervous but I’m committed…”
- “I’m nervous but excited to make the finish line…”
- “I’m a bit terrified and a lot excited. Whatever happens, it will be an experience!”
- “I’m mostly scared and a little excited…”
The excited/ nervous mix is an excellent indicator that you’re moving outside of your comfort zone and towards a zone of growth.
The ego is the nervous trying to pull you back towards safety—where you won’t embarrass yourself, mess up, get scared, get tired, get dirty, and so forth.
The deeper parts of yourself are the excited trying to push you towards something greater—where you get to “make the finish line,” overcome new obstacles, prove your strength, develop spirit, callous your mind, complete something harder than most others would even dare to attempt, and so forth.
The key, worth noting, is in the mix.
All nervous and no excitement and there will be no reward / reason. All excitement and no nervous and there won’t be enough depth / substance. Get the two mixed just right, though? And what follows as you step into that mix may very well imprint itself into your memory… for life.
…It’s the type of mix that makes memories that last lifetimes.