Maintaining Your Pace

Image by KM Cheng, Hong Kong

It has been a little rough over the past two days.  I lost my stride, got off-pace.  Too much travelling, too many hotel rooms, I set too many priorities for my time here in China.

Too much food.

That’s the theme to this trip so far.  The African man in the seat next to me on the flight over here said those words to the stewardess when she was serving him breakfast.  He opted for a simple meal of toast and fruit; I ate the whole tray-full.

I’ve never even thought those words before, I scolded myself.

Now, nearly two weeks later, I’m tired of too many big meals and too many five star hotels.  My needs are simpler, but my time is not my own.  So you continue to push ahead, take a deep breath and keep moving, hope that you’ll catch your breath a little further down the road.

Finally, this morning, we have a small break: no meetings until noontime.  I took a walk with my friend Dave in the cold morning air.  The sunshine and the exercise set us straight again.  We’ve just a few days left in this big, baffling, incredible country, and we don’t want to squander the opportunity we’ve been given.

The best part of the trip is just beginning.  We don’t want to waste our time regretting things we’ve done and wishing we were on the way home.

Relax.

It’s the same really when I go jogging.  I often catch myself focused on how much further I have to run.  I get tense, and the running becomes more difficult, the aches and pains more intense.

Then I catch myself.  I take a deep breathe and relax my muscles.  And I remind myself that it’s the individual steps that make the run worthwhile, not reaching the distant end point. 

One step at a time.  Maintain your pace.

Enjoy the journey.