The Wall

So, the famous wall. Most of us, especially my fellow runners, have heard of the infamous "Wall". The runners' wall is that place or time in a race when the body's fuels are depleted and willpower (the only thing you have left) becomes crucial to be able to finish the race. At this point, willpower is all you got. I have met a wall or 2 myself. Funny thing with walls, they cannot be anticipated and they vary in size and strength. They do have 2 things in common always. First and foremost, they will impede progress. They slow you, plant seeds of doubt, cause fear, and sometimes bring your progress to a grinding halt. They are a dangerous force to be reckoned with. The second commonality - "walls" simply do not exist, at least not in a physical sense. No mater how foreboding or oppressive, reach out to touch it and you will be grabbing at air.

The wall that stops so many of us in our various races through life, love, health, and business does not have a physical presence, it is a creation of the mind. Perhaps a better definition would be the creation of your doubts and fears. So why are walls so effective and destructive when they have no physical substance? This is due to the wall's source and our subconscious. The subconscious does not know truth from fiction. What you tell yourself in your self talk or daily affirmations is what feeds your self conscious. Just as there is healthy food and junk food to eat, there is healthy input for your brain and junk input. It is this junk - negative, pessimistic, doubting, fearful- that is the mortar for the wall and causes it to rise like a phoenix from the ashes right before your eyes. Often it is a mile high brick colored phoenix. This is daunting to even the toughest champions.

I encourage everyone to rent the DVD "Run Fat Boy Run". If you are not a runner or not an aficionado of British humor films, rent it and fast forward to the end of movie where the unlikely hero "Fat Boy" meets his wall during the marathon. I actually encourage you to watch the whole movie. I do not think it matters if you are a runner or not. There are some good life lessons. Also some bawdy English humor/language too so be warned. Now this may be a spoiler alert..... but the near final scene depicts the "Wall" the runner has hit. It is perhaps the most remarkable and accurate scene portraying the dreaded "Wall" I could imagine. The scene gives me chills and always brings tears. A remarkable part is that you see what he sees - or rather FEELS as the wall. Big and insurmountable and solid and REAL - to him. Then the camera gives you a view that you see as an onlooker - you see NOTHING. Walls are deeply personal. Others may see you struggling on your path and cheer you on through it, no one but you can see it. All the onlookers can see is the finish line, we all see it. Fat Boy cannot.

The great thing about walls is that, as they are man-made (you-made) they also can be man-destroyed. The tough thing is to realize that only the creator of the wall can destroy it. While it is easy to erect walls, it takes tremendous strength, mental strength, to break it down. The good news is that you have all you need to demolish you wall.

Fat Boy learns the secret to defeating the wall and it is the same for all of us. After being mentally beaten and bloodied by his wall, he shifts his gaze and begins to focus on his goal, his dream, the reason why he ran in the first place. That renewed focus on what he wants, of his "why", is the sledgehammer he needs to knock some bricks out of the wall. It does not take many knocks to bring a wall down.

So think, why did you sign up for a race, start a business, go on a diet, return to school? If you started on a journey, your own marathon of sorts, you had to have a goal in mind. Never let go of that goal. You must see it daily - you must verbalize it daily. A well envisioned goal can loom over any size wall.

Funny, with all my running, my walls have never thankfully been in a race. But they have been plentiful in other areas of my life and are often of various sizes and strengths. Perhaps dependant upon my commitment to my journey.. hmmmm. Some I have been able to quickly avoid or jump. Some I could break though easily. Others not so much. I have hit some of the big red brick mommas. The ones that stop you in your tracks and even knock you back a bit. The type I could not see my goal over. One time the bricks of my wall were telephone shaped (yes I dislike sales calls). I could not get my vision past the wall. So I decided that as walls are built piece by piece, so too will they fall. I made a call, one call. I did not care about outcome, just the action. And when I did, one brick dislodged. Another call, another brick and another and another. Pretty soon I was picking my way over the rubble and continuing my race.

That would be what I urge all of you to do. Whatever the nature of your race, do not stop. Do not let walls block your way to your goals or dreams. You have the power to tear down your wall. You know what is on the other side, you created it. It is worth it. Imagine how Joshua felt when the walls of Jericho came tumbling down. That triumph is for you all. Go out and break down your walls. Finish your race.