What I Learned About Wisdom While Crawling Towards the Finish Line

Photo @1997 Rich Cruise Ironman Finish line

My definition of wisdom is doing something wrong so many times; you finally learn know how to do it right. The first time I learned this lesson was while I was on all fours crawling towards the finish line. When I was younger, I saw wise people seemingly make fewer mistakes.

As I watched them I witnessed how they operated with some kind of Jedi super power that enabled them to see around the next bend.

In work and life they knew

  • what to do
  • what to say
  • what not to say
  • when to say it.

At the time, I couldn’t claim these as areas of strength.

In the void of having experience I read a lot of books to gather more information.

Experience is worth a lot.

I listened to a younger woman recently expound on how a particular speaker that we listened to failed to connect with the audience.

It wasn’t that I necessarily disagreed with her.

What was missing was the reason she believed that the speaker failed.

She read in a book how a speaker should connect with an audience.

I’ve read a lot of books about how to be a better speaker, or writer, or runner or husband.

None of those books made me wise.

I gained some great information, but wisdom doesn’t come from a book.

“DNF” for my first marathon

In my first attempt at running a Marathon, I decided to wake up at 4 am and eat a whole bowl of spaghetti, take a handful of Advil and only drink water, not Gatorade during the race.

I had a plan.

I read it in a book.

I decided to try it for the first time on race day.

By the time I reached mile seventeen I was involuntarily dispensing the spaghetti on the racecourse.

By mile twenty-four I was on all fours crawling towards the medical tent.

In racing they call it a “DNF” when you “Do Not Finish”.

Now I have wisdom on how to run a marathon.

But most of what I know is a result of doing it wrong more times than I can count.

Use the books for gaining information, but use experiences to solidify wisdom.

I hope we will allow our mistakes to teach us.

Let me know if you want that marathon training program.

I bet I could dig it up for you.

Walking the Precipice While Pursuing Your Art

photo by ashokboghani

Have you ever stood on a precipice?

In the high mountains of Colorado you can find them.

They can be very steep, rocky, catwalks across the sky.  On one side the ledge gives way to a thousand foot drop over a series of connected troughs and boulders.

On the other side, a sheer drop hundreds of feet down.  Most people would rather have a rope connected to them and a belay as they carefully pick their way across the precarious terrain.

This dance across the sky might seem like a stroll that you would never do.

Let me increase your vision.

You are already doing this and without a rope.

Each day that you step forward, pursuing your Art or new business venture or athletic feat you are walking the precipice.

Great beginnings always start with risk.

You stand on the edge of a great beginning with the hope of reaching your goal, accomplishing the mission, building the team, raising the money, finishing your first marathon (the other side of the precipice).

You are more courageous than you realize.  With each step you take you are exposing yourself to either side of the precipice.  On one side, there is a chasm of your own fears of failure.

On the other side, everyone else’s fears of your potential failure (your family, your friends, your boss, your investors, your partner, your team mates).

Don’t listen to everyone else’s fears.

Let’s see if any of these may sound familiar……

“It can’t be done”.

“You’re too old”.

“Don’t waste your time and money on that”.

“Nobody will pay for that”.

“What will your boss say”?

Keep walking.  Keep stepping forward an inch at a time.  It’s even worth taking in the view, as scary as it may seem for a moment.  Feel your pulse pounding in your throat.

You don’t have a rope.  And it’s halfway forward or halfway back.

You might as well go forward.  It’s the same dangerous distance in either direction.

In the mountains, we wear a rope when crossing these sections of a route.

In life, there often isn’t a safety net.  Stand tall.  Don’t listen to the swirling echo of the wind coming up either side of the precipice.

Your almost there.

What catwalk in Life, Business or Adventure are you walking today?