Never let a tortoise shell get in the way…

Pound, Pound, Pound, Pound – The heart is beating, the breath is heavy, the pulse is throbbing inside your head. . . It’s called the race of life!

Now for someone who may not know me, I’m a little bit competitive. (Maybe just a little.) My brother Ben, my husband Jai and myself went running yesterday. We had to run about 1KM to the oval where we were heading. Now, for someone who’s (as I said before) just a little bit competitive, it was extremely frustrating and disheartening to see my fellow runners at least 100 metres ahead of me. I’ve never liked the long distance running and as I heaved and puffed and heaved and pushed in the end I ended up saying:

“You go on, I’ll catch up!“

In life you come into certain situations where you just feel like you’re the tortoise in the race of life. It feels as if everyone else is racing ahead of you. They have the house, the cars, the new clothes, the list just seems to be endless. It’s in these moments where you feel like hiding in your little warm tortoise shell and maybe even feel a little sorry for yourself.

… As we neared the end of our long distance run with alot of heavy breathing and “just give me a minute” moment we moved on to the sprints…

Sprints is something that I have always loved to do. I remember when I was in primary school and the yearly sports carnival day. I was apart of ‘Tyral’ which was the blue house. As a little girl, I used to love this day because mum would always give us money to buy lollies at the canteen. I would always enjoy the redskins or the pink and green fizzers. I would always dress up my favourite bear Harare in blue streamers.

Now the day consisted of high jump, long jump, relays and more. It was the 100 metre sprint that I used to love the best. The teacher would line us up at the starting line, my tummy would be full of butterflies and my heart would be pounding in my chest. As we lined up for the race all I was focused on, was the finish line. As the gun went off, and the crowd screamed Tyrell! . . . Tyrell! I was on my way! Pound, Pound, Pound, Pound. Now, there are certain moments in life where you never forget, and I’ll never forget the sports carnival this one particular year, YES! I came first!

Now back to the sprints with Ben and Jai. We lined up our markers and I shouted: “ready, steady, GO!” I was so determined to win this time, that I sprinted with all my might! . . . I won!

Sometimes life can feel like the long distance run and the others are far ahead but I’ve come to realise that I should never let a tortoise shell get in the way of my greatest potential. You never know where the next race in life may take you… it could just be the winning sprint that will take you to your win!

Aim for YOUR finish line and run it for the GOLD!