Other Writing

Whatever you can do,

Or think you can, begin it.

Boldness has power, and genius,

And magic in it.

- Goethe

Consider this question: How often have you let a “brisk wind” or a “light rain” provide you with an excuse to cancel an appointment, avoid a networking event, or skip a workout?

On one wet blustery day back in 1954, Roger Bannister, a young medical student in Britain, almost let the weather destroy his date with destiny. Bannister had plans to participate in the mile event that day in a dual track meet between Oxford University and the British Amateur Athletic Association, for which he was running. After completing his hospital rounds, he caught the train to the event. As fate would have it, his coach, Franz Stampfl, was on the same train. During the short ride, Bannister expressed his concerns about the weather conditions, but Stampfl encouraged him to participate. “If you don’t take this opportunity,” he told Bannister, “you may never forgive yourself.” Bannister waited until just an hour before the race to decide. By then, the rain had stopped and the winds had subsided. Bannister decided to go for it. With his plan in place, Bannister began the race that would be his legacy. In 1954, Roger Bannister became the first person in history to run a sub-4-minute mile.

Roger Bannister’s story resonates with me because I am a runner – and the mile was my event in high school. The story also reminds me of all the times I have pointed to that “light rain” or “brisk wind” as a reason for not doing something because there was something about it that frightened me. Fear is a powerful de-motivator.

But here is the good news: Recent research at MIT has shown that multitasking is a fallacy; that is, our brains can really only focus on one thing at a time. Now you may be thinking, but what does this have to do with fear and moving past it? Here’s how: To feel fear, you must consciously think about it and worry about it. If, instead, you distract yourself by following the Nike adage and focus on “just doing it,” your fear will fade away because you can’t focus on the fear and on the thing that is causing the fear at the same time.

How is that possible? After all, fear tends to immobilize us and prevent us from taking action. Here is the key – commitment! If you commit to something and hold yourself accountable – and find the Franz Stampfls in your lives to help you do just that – you will feel obliged to do it. And when you do it, you will be focused on doing it successfully – not on the associated fear. 

It is that commitment that will allow you to push aside your perceived limits, dismiss the “light rains” and “brisk winds” in your life, and accomplish what you never thought possible – whether that is completing a marathon, getting a degree, climbing a mountain, or presenting your Ice Breaker speech at a Toastmasters meeting.

How many of you consider yourselves animal lovers?  If you answered Yes, you are not alone. I am both an animal lover and an animal mother – and, as a child, an animal sibling!  I have been surrounded by animals most of my life, beginning with my first animal sibling, Big Kitty.  These days, I enjoy cuddles with Baby, our Chihuahua. Besides an assortment of cats and dogs, I cared for countless hamsters, mice, turtles, rabbits, chickens, and even a caterpillar!

I am an only child, so my animals were my siblings. As a child, I often played with them, not always with their full cooperation. For example, I loved to dress my Big Kitty in a bonnet and tuck her into my baby buggy. She was remarkably tolerant of this, but her tolerance usually ran out after about 10 minutes, at which point she would shake off the bonnet and jump out of the buggy.

Animals even played a role in my career history, which began the summer before I entered college with a stint at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or SPCA, where I spent 2 months filling requests for dog licenses – something I could not have done for more than 2 months! Nearly 40 years later, I went to work as a Technical Product Manager in the IT Department at the Veterinary Centers of America, or VCA. They were the perfect bookends to my career.

Over the years, animals have taught me many important lessons, but three lessons stand out.

The first of those lessons is the importance of perseverance. Thanks to their wild beginnings, animals are experts at forging ahead in spite of the odds against them. They are champs at powering through their aches and pains. They don’t let anything get in their way.

The second of those lessons is that of unconditional love. Animals put kindness and caring above all else. They couldn’t care less who you are, where you came from, what religion you practice, or what language you speak, as long as you show them kindness and care for them, whether or not they are part of your family. This is a lesson all us humans could do a better job of learning.

The third and final lesson is the one that stems directly from what I like to call animals’ superpower – living in the moment. While animals do learn and remember, they live in the moment. The past is past and the future will be what it is. It is that superpower that makes animals so healing. When you interact with an animal, you cannot help but be in the present. More than just about anything else, animals ground me and comfort me. They awaken joy and wonder in me.

Five years ago, I took the additional step to honor the animals in my life by deciding to forgo all mammal meat, which meant no beef, no lamb, no pork, no venison, no rabbit – no meat from animals that, like humans, are mammals. I have honestly not missed mammal meat at all. I do continue to consume poultry and seafood. One day I will take the next step and banish those meats from my diet as well.

Every day I am grateful for the animals in my life – both those in my family and those I encounter in the wild. They have been my salvation.