The key to success: Feeling well?

This weekend was a mess of big, beautiful, powerful, and (sometimes) heartbreaking feelings. Travis and I had the absolute honour of watching countless people we know, respect, and love push themselves to their limits. To see where their limits were and find something more. To find something they didn’t know they had.

For some that meant accomplishing their goal of running their first 100 mile ultra (we cried), for another, it was taking another giant step toward the goal of raising $1M for Rare Disease (we also cried), for others, it was supporting the dream of someone they love (we cried some more).

These are the heros.

 

For some however, what they found wasn’t enough. They discovered where their limits were and they failed. These are the ones who also worked towards that goal. The ones who also set that intention. The ones who also put in the time, energy, and heart required. The ones who had to make that call… “Not today.” The ones who gave everything they had and still came up short.

And yet every one of them put it all on the line. Every one of them placed themselves in the thick of it. Every one of them laid themselves out there for everyone to see. Every one of them laid themselves out there for -themselves- to see. And every one of them is a hero for it.

These are the unsung heros.

They are all heros.

Heros can feel bad. Heros can feel good. Heros can feel amazing and excited and shitty and horrible and defeated and vulnerable and raw. But heros feel. Heros are good at the feels. They “feel well.” Heros put themselves out there. They fight. Sometimes they win. But most times they lose. And still, they feel.

They feel well.

We saw both winners and “losers” this weekend. And most are heros.

But there were also those who aren’t heros yet. They are the ones who haven’t learned to put themselves out there. Who haven’t learned to share their goals, their dreams, their aspirations, their feelings.

They are the ones who don’t feel well.

People who don’t feel well minimize their dreams. They hide their goals. They make excuses for their failings and they reward their successes. They hold themselves back. They reveal that they didn’t really care – only after they lose. They admit they gave it all they had – only after they top the podium. They believe it is not safe to put themselves out there. They believe that feelings are weakness.

Unlike our heros, those who are not yet heros don’t put themselves out there. They don’t put themselves out there because they feel that if they put themselves out there they will lose. They believe if they put themselves out there, they will lose everything.

They are wrong.

You can finish a race if you don’t feel well. But if you don’t feel well, you can never win. Because winners feel. And winners feel well.

So raise a glass to feeling well this weekend! Good or bad. Stop hiding. Start feeling.
Start winning.
Start losing.

Just start.

-Ashley Schiller-Brown
(Hoping you feel a little well-er today and tomorrow.)