Our baby, now five years old, needs a lot of prompting to run. Given a choice, he would be happy to stay put in one place. We are always trying to find something to motivate him to run. Thankfully, our efforts seem to be paying off. Not enough to get him to Olympics, if some of you thought of Olympics on seeing the picture with rings. The sharp-eyed would have spotted there are seven rings instead of the usual five. To be clear, this article is not about Olympics. However, it is all about those seven rings. Now, what are those seven rings? They look like flimsy cheap plastic rings. And yes, they are! They may look worthless to many. To him, they are the precious results of his efforts. Recently, he participated in a fun run event where kids were given jelly bands for each round they complete.
It just amazed us to see him get charged up after collecting each band. The other thing that wiped away his tiredness was the huge crowd in front of the school.The cheering by the crowd of parents and teachers made him run faster for that section. He would wave his hand in the air as if acknowledging all the applause. To him, it looked like all the people were appreciating him. High-fives from his dad waiting in the stands added to the encouragement. I was running along with him and had to remind him to slow down and take it easy so that he could continue in the run for more time.
After the run was over, the real fun started. There were a lot of carnival style games and rides which we all enjoyed. This was another thing that had motivated him to run. He knew the carnival would only start after the run. Though it was possible to simply wait somewhere for the carnival to start, he ran the whole time. He was so glad to have done the maximum allowed rounds.
When I think about that day, I realize the event conveyed a lot of things to me. It showed me his endurance. Maybe, he had it all the time but lacked motivation. And what did he need for motivation? Nothing great. Only a few small immediate rewards like the jelly bands. I guess that is the case with most of us too. We need some sort of immediate acknowledgment for our work. Of course, a grand prize at the end is something that will keep us going for more. In this case, the carnival and rides were the grand prizes.
What else matters? Appreciation, encouragement, and feedback. We need someone to believe in us and make our actions feel worthy. It can act as the confidence booster for the rest of our journey in an unfamiliar land. For our baby, the huge cheering crowd made him feel appreciated. And high-fives from his dad were a positive encouragement. The feedback to take it easy helped him complete the run. All this shows us how important it is to have a network of people who appreciate our work. And any positive encouragement adds to the fuel. Being open to feedback and suggestions is equally important. There are numerous paths to achieve the same goal. You can always take short-cuts and get to a prize. Some short-cuts may be required too. We just have to be happy with our choices. I would say our personal satisfaction is the icing on the cake.
If I delve into more abstractions, I would call life as a race. Either we are running or life is taking us towards different goals at different paces. Along the way, we need to take some time to enjoy a few cakes, preferably with delicious icing. Now that my run with these set of words is coming to an end, it is time for me to have some cake with a little bit of icing !
P.S: This is a copy of a note that I had posted in FB around two and half years ago after a fun run event. Today, when our little guy completed a 5K running non-stop, I am reminded of this note and adding it to our list of refreshing perceptions.
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