Flashback Friday: Don't Qualify Success

My wife has had a rough go of it lately at work. She's been struggling with confidence. We share these sentiments, but usually in regards to different aspects of our lives. While her struggles refer to her job, mine more often relate to things like running or playing the banjo.

One thing she said recently has struck a chord with me: "I need to remember that I don't qualify success."

Her point was that there are no "big" or "small" successes. Success is success.

Today and tomorrow, Mrs. Viper has an event at work that she has been planning amid her recent minor surgeries. She has been anxious about how it will turn out.

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with some friends to play some old-time music, and I may have to carry the rhythm whether I know a tune or not. I haven't been playing as much as I'd like to recently, and I'm nervous that I'll let the group down.

A week from tomorrow, we both have the Akron Marathon Relay. We haven't been running as much as we should. We both keep saying, "We should run tomorrow." Tomorrow never seems to arrive.

The problem is we have high expectations. She wants to be the best at her job. I want to be the best (well, at least really darned good) banjo player. We both want to run our best. We're setting ourselves up for disappointment by forgetting that success is success.

When it comes time to perform, we just have to relax and let our experience carry the day.

Back Talk
Wherein there's nothing to which we can drop down

Nitmos wonders if we have any options with less than 10 days to go: "Is it too late to drop to the half relay? Would that be [where] you go from 5 to 10 relay members?"

Answer: I'm sure the race organizers would love to add another five entry fees.

Happy Hour is nearly upon us, teammates! Have a finely brewed weekend. Run well and drink well. Cheers!