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Shin-Splints and Hotels
Since I started jogging the second week of being here in Aberdeen, I've
made some interesting discoveries about my abilities to take on a new
experience.
The first time I jogged, I couldn't stop looking at my watch for when I
could stop, couldn't get my breath, and felt like I was running in place.
(Background: I hadn't participated in any significant amount of athletic
activity for several months...gah). I didn't want to jog any more and I
didn't see how so many people could consider it a worthwhile activity when
it felt so awful.
I've been jogging fairly regularly since then, and despite the
occaisional shin-splints and lack of motivation, I've come to appreciate
it and my decision (determined by a gut feeling more than anything else)
to stick with it. I can jog for longer chunks at a time, I can jog
farther, and I'm looking at my watch less and less. I sometimes even
enjoy it.
It reminds me of the summer before going to College. I was working as the
Front Desk Manager at AmeriSuites Hotel in Indianapolis, IN; I had been
working there for quite some time, was quite comfortable with my position
and responsibilities, and knew the job very well. When my family decided
to move back to Cincinnati, I decided to transfer to the AmeriSuites
location there because it was the same general setup, computer system,
procedures and policies, etc.
On my first day, I was miserable. I couldn't stop looking at my watch for
when the day would be over, I felt nervous, and I didn't see how I could
ever enjoy that job, despite it's extreme similarity to the one I'd left
just days ago.
Well, I stuck with that too, and everything turned out fine, despite the
occaisional shin-splints and lack of motivation. In principle, I feel
like encountering new experiences should be quite easy and just something
else to work through without too much intellectual or emotional strife.
But, as both these examples and my initial negative reactions to being in
Scotland will show, new experiences can be *really* hard and it really
does take some time and "blind" committment, at least for me, to get
through them the right way. It seems to be really worth it when I do.
Chris
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