The American Philosopher William James said:

“self esteem is based on success and expectations, increased joy comes from exceeding what we thought we could accomplish”

We need to set goals that are big enough to cause us  to doubt but in order to build and improve self esteem they must result in great joy when we achieve them.

Every time I finish a race, despite how I finish or my finishing time, it does build my self esteem. I have found that this works even better when the journey to my desired outcomes is filled (at least in part) with some amount of pain.  This can be physical or mental, or in respect to running: a little bit of both. The greatest self esteem boosters are those accomplishments that seem at first impossible. They usually require time, preparation, and a lot of hard work. Now that I am 32 going onto 33, I realize how important it is to keep finding new challenges, without them life can give way to monotony, and that is a sad thought.

So this year, I plan on running a half marathon in November and maybe someday if I can get there a full marathon. You have to run the full marathon in just under 3 hours and 10 minutes to qualify for the Boston Marathon, so I think I will start with something more local. When I look around myself in these events I see a lot of middle age men and women with a strong look of determination on there faces, at the end everyone is smiling (well unless you had to get escorted off by the medical group).

I talked earlier this year about creating a bucket list, I spoke with my wife about this and we thought we would do one together and then separately as my dad had suggested. I think this is a good idea, it is good to also have goals as a couple.

On a side note. There is nothing better than watching a two year old become a person. Tonight, we played the wheels on the bus go round and round as I put my daughter  to bed, I stopped and let her fill in the blanks, listening to her create “items on bus” was so fun, and listening to how she could relate each item to a sound or a certain activity, was just amazing. To think just a couple months ago she was just beginning to make sense of her words, it makes me so proud and amazed as a father.  Like a marathon, so too are these little moments, when we are holding them and bouncing them as little babies it is hard to believe we will ever make it this far, and now as I hold my “big” 2 year old in my arms and I feel her little hands in mine, I can’t help but feel so proud, it makes me want to hold onto these moments forever. I am reminded how small accomplishments surround us each day, and that sometimes if we are too busy looking for them counting miles, or cashing pay checks, we may miss the best of all accomplishments life has to offer.

This weekend we have been blessed with beautiful days,  tomorrow should be delightful!