But I could never do that

Every time I visit my parents, which is fairly often, the conversation turns to my last run or race. Inevitably my mom says “but I could never do that”. This from a woman who had buried a child & both her brothers by my age & graduated college when I graduated high school, because she never got the opportunity to go – in her day, few women did.

I have little doubt that if my mother wanted to, she could run a race. At the very least walk it. Even though she’s in her late 80s & has some health issues.

Most of my life, when it came to running, I was right there with my mother: I couldn’t do that; I couldn’t even run that dreaded mile in gym class.

Maybe you’re reading this right now thinking: I could never run, I could never run a race, I could never run ___________ (you fill in the blank). Or lose the weight. Or . . . a million different things you think you can’t do.

Whatever it is you think you can’t do, you won’t. Because you don’t believe.

Believing in yourself is the key to all your dreams. Don’t get me wrong: anything worth doing & having is going to be hard. You will fail, but it doesn’t matter how often you fail. You just have to believe that this is your destiny, pick yourself up, work hard – and repeat however many times necessary.

Thomas Edison, a man who knew a little something about failure, said:

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.

It’s how I ran my own business, lost over 30 pounds & yes, started to run. Believe you can & you will. And remember Edison also said:

If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves.

Today I’m linking up with Jill Conyers & other bloggers for Fitness Friday. Join us!

What has been holding you back from you dreams?

What have you believed you could do – and did?