By AMY FREESE
DesignHer Living columnist
Are you participating in a race that you know you are meant to run but still find yourself wondering if you are even at the right track?  You’ve stretched, trained, hydrated, even suffered a few aches and pains along the way. But even after all that conditioning, you’re still questioning whether you are really equipped and qualified to be called a runner who can take a lane on the track, let alone make it to the finish line.

For years my ‘runner friends’ tried convincing me to buy an ugly pair of sneakers and run the beautiful  trail near the Brentwood Y with them.  My response time and again was, ‘I only run errands.’

Fast forward a few miles, medals, and mouthful of crow later as I now run for fun, ugly shoes and all.

Whether it’s running the track, the trail, or at this thing called ‘life,’ I have found the biggest hurdle in reaching the finish line is trying to keep pace with my fellow runners. Too often I discover I have lost track of my own race.  Though I believe it’s beneficial to run with others, it’s easy to get distracted or discouraged by someone else’s larger or gazelle-like stride.

I didn’t register for the Country Music Marathon this past spring but I did find myself in a different kind of pace-setting race.

Love it or hate it, Facebook is the end-all, be-all tool for marketing, networking and connecting.  If you’re my FB friend, and I hope you are, you might remember me falling off the FB billboard a few months back.  Many friends that I chatted with outside the FB walls questioned my whereabouts. They concluded I was just another FB’er gone AWOL or that perhaps I was truly an addict and in need of FB Rehab.

Well, none of that was the case. Instead, it was a ‘cleansing’ of sorts, a time to remove the toxins that were subtly moving in to sabotage my stride.

As a life coach, I am Facebook friends with several fellow coaches. I followed them, learned from them but ultimately I found myself -- unnoticeably at first -- comparing my pace with them.  You know the kind of comparing I’m referring to -- the ugly kind; the kind of comparing that makes you feel like you aren’t worthy to even put on the running shoes let alone display your past medals or even sign up for another race. 

Don’t you find it interesting that these ‘uglies’ seem to rear their deformed heads right as the announcer is about to call you to take your mark?  It’s always an ugly battle and the uglies will try to keep you out of the race every time. 

 I recognized those ‘uglies’ as a warning to step away, revisit the announcer’s call, and get real with the personal pace that I knew had been uniquely set for me.  The patiently waiting ugly’s reared head was only there to be a hurdle wanting me to stumble, be sidelined, and taken out of the race.   Well, hurdles schmurdles, they can only make you trip when you’ve turned the microphone down and lost sight of why, when and to whom you’re heading toward the finish line for.  

We are all called to participate in this race called life.  Some are called to walk, some to jog and some to sprint, but nonetheless, all are called to the race.  There will be low and high hurdles that can scare you to the sidelines or call you up and over to the finish line.

Here’s my advice to take today: Embrace and focus only on the race you are being called to run, even when your fellow runners seem to be outpacing you.  Don’t get derailed by the uglies that want to trip you up and take you off the track.  Instead, race with peace-filled perseverance knowing that the announcer in your heart and soul will equip you to keep the pace that only you are designed to run. 

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 Amy Freese is a professional life coach, motivational speaker and Brentwood mom. Contact her at amy@freeser.net or visit her website at www.amyfreese.com.