Breakthrough!

Does patience actually pay off? Not always (unfortunately), but right now for me, I feel like it did. I was able to run the first 0.5 miles of my 2.5 miles (hell yes!) run without keeling over or having to stop! It feels incredible to have made some progress (although I have a creeping suspicion that the cup of chai I had right before I ran may have had something to do with it) and I think staying in (for the most part) over the weekend and actually eating proper meals, and sleeping (helloooo second year MBA when this is actually a possibility) helped! It is unbelievable how much that one small teeny tiny progress made me feel so much better - like this whole running thing might actually be getting me somewhere (of course I might completely change my mind after my next run). The morale boost was much needed!

After this run, I am pondering on how necessary a breakthrough is in life - putting it in the context of business school - that first interview, that first job/ internship offer, that first successful event that you organize, the first set of midterms that you pass (yes - pass - Probability & Statistics class at Tepper will have you running for the hills) makes a world of a difference! Even if that breakthrough doesn't result in something concrete, it reinforces the confidence you have in yourself (and yes, no matter how awesome you are, EVERYONE goes through moments of self doubt at some point or the other). Sometimes that moment of mini-success comes right along your way without you doing anything, and sometimes you have to work hard - very hard - for it, and sometimes you have to be on the lookout for it. A jump from 0.35 mi (and this is how I felt when I first started running) to 0.5 mi is not very big, but I was looking for it, and I wanted it.

Bottom Line - Look for the small breakthroughs; they make a difference.