My life's like a race,
But I'm keeping my pace
So I don't grow weary.
Oh! The crowd is cheering!
Keeping My Pace
If running in a pack I can never keep up. That's partly why I disliked phys ed when I was in school. Whenever we had to run en masse marathon style I could never keep up, eventually falling behind into a walk or maybe sitting down for a spell. I didn't realize until I was nearly fifty years old that I had gone through my life with a congenital heart defect which explained my inability to endure extended physical activity.
Over the years I would occasionally get seriously winded in a way that seemed like a cardiac event of some sort, but then after taking a rest I'd be recovered. The times this would happen were when I was doing somewhat strenuous hiking or extreme physical labor. Eventually I learned to know my limits and pace myself.
Keeping my personal pace has always been important to me and as I grow older the importance becomes ever greater. If I ever do any more hiking it will not involve overly precarious situations like scrambling up rocky mountainsides. I used to do such things keeping my comfortable pace, but now I'd be afraid of falling. Not that I fall that much, but the agility of younger days seems to be less apparent to my body. My mind wants to do things, but my body knows better.
In my future I can still imagine great things that I could do in those coming years. Succumbing to some idea like getting old--and I mean doddering scarily old--is not in my plans. Maybe I'm not so nimble as I once was, but in reality I was never all that nimble anyway. Like when I went to take tap-dancing lessons when I was twenty-five. The dance teacher kind of indicated that maybe dance wasn't my forte.
In some ways I've always been a bit of a klutz in a physical sense. But I've also always gotten by in life and in most cases gotten by just fine. And thus I will continue. My next prize awaits me all aglow in the future. I'm heading that way and keeping my pace.
Do you stress yourself out trying to get things done? What is the biggest thing that hinders you from achieving your goals? How do you manage the pace of your life?
Time. Time is the biggest thing that hinders me from achieving my goals...
ReplyDeleteFrederique, unlike when I was much younger, now there never seems to be enough time.
DeleteLee
That's why I run five miles a day now, while I still can.
ReplyDeleteAlex, I could have never run more than maybe a half a mile or maybe less until my heart would beat like crazy and I'd been short of breath. I wish I could run long distances.
DeleteLee
I've never been a runner, even when I was a lower weight. I was diagnosed with asthma in 2014, which might have something to do with how I was so bad at running in gym class throughout school.
ReplyDeleteCarrie-Anne, when I was a kid I would run around a lot, but apparently never taxed myself like the strenuous work outs in phys ed class. I can see where asthma could affect your running ability.
DeleteLee
My pace tends to be on the frantic side.
ReplyDeleteL.Diane, I've done plenty of frantic in my life, but mostly things stay low key with me these days.
DeleteLee
Lee,
ReplyDeleteYep, I tend to get stressed and I'm afraid I'm going to get over stressed as my posts catch up with the alphabet prompt but I'm going to try to not stress, just have fun. I've never been one for running - hate it! I love other physical activity but anything super strenuous is tiring, though. To keep pace my life I have blocks of time for each activity and that seems to work well for me.
Cathy's Pinup Girl #AtoZChallenge Art Sketch Series 'K'
Cathy, I was just last night thinking that I need to block out my time. My current schedule is not allowing me to accomplish a lot of things I want to do. I waste a lot of time.
DeleteLee
The first time I ran on the high school track, I thought, now maybe this is something I might be good at. I made the first turn at a sprint, slammed into the cross-wind, and that put paid to my track career.
ReplyDeleteCW, my middle daughter was recruited by her high school track coach to be on the running team because he thought she showed a lot of potential with her height and long legs. She soon discovered that running was not something she enjoyed doing.
DeleteLee
I don't stress myself out like I used to when trying to get things done. That's what happened the night I had my stroke.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that hinders me the most from achieving my goals is flat out sloth.
There's really nothing major to "the pace of my life." I've slowed down to where I can handle everything easily.
John H, I've had my stressful times for sure, but as a rule I try to avoid stress. Fortunately I'm pretty low key to begin with so I tend to remain relatively calm when others might me stressed.
DeleteSame thing as you hinders a lot of achievement in my life.
Lee
You remind me of the race horse I'm writing a novel about. It's tough being a race horse with a heart problem but I'm pretty sure he'll find his own way. He's a lucky one; he's part of a community. Communities have a way of looking out for you I have discovered. No doubt you have too.
ReplyDeleteGuy, my wife and I certainly have each other (unless she gets mad at me), but my friends and family help get me through a lot.
DeleteLee
Do I keep pace?????????????
ReplyDeleteOf course not
I'm not managing the pace of my live very well now that I have all this time at home. Too much time on the computer I think, with all those extra Zoom meetings and not enough exercise. I need to change that.
ReplyDelete