Week 3: Describe a missed opportunity
When I was selecting all 52 writing topics for the year, I made it a point not to give any one topic too much thought. I wanted to be able to really mull over that week’s topic in the moment.
So, when I sat down to see what I’d selected to write about this week, I didn’t expect to be in the middle of creating a potential missed opportunity.
I don’t often dwell on missed opportunities. If I passed on something, I had a good reason. As a performer, whenever I’m asked to sing, it’s a “yes.” I hesitate with funerals because I’m a crier, but that’s about my only moment of reluctance. I once sang a Liza Minnelli song at a tractor pull, if you catch my drift.
Cut to my present. I’m supposed to run in a 5k on Saturday, and quite honestly, I am not up to it. Back in November, I started a new job. On day two of my new position, I had this overwhelming feeling of control. I thought I could do anything! So, I signed up for a random, mid-January in Colorado, 5k. I thought, “This will be a great excuse to stay active in January.” November 2021 me was sweet. She had ambitions. She had energy. She was… naïve.
For starters, I’m not a runner. I haven’t trained for anything. I’m in no way comfortable running at altitude yet. I’m a yoga, long walks, and hikes kind of person.
I have a lot of excuses for why I didn’t get my act together for this 5k. Some are good—like the holidays slowed me down, my knee has been really bothering me lately, and I don’t want to go to the gym because of Omicron—but I also can’t shake the “I just don’t feel like it” diatribe in my head. After all, my entry fee is going to a good cause. Good was done. Is that enough?
It’s not quite Saturday morning. I still have time to choose whether or not to participate. I could always walk the 5k. But I could also stay in bed a little longer and go for a walk later in the day at a nearby park. There will also be other 5ks. This isn’t a fleeting or rare opportunity.
“Sometimes, you have to do things you don’t want to do.” My parents said this to me a lot in my childhood. But now that I’m the adult, I realize there is some degree of pick-and-choose to this concept. I’ll, of course, plan to attend a funeral or a baby shower even if I don’t want to go. Those things matter. People matter. But a random 5k I signed up for in the haze of an energetic rush? I can choose to go or not go. It’s a small thing, but it feels good to know the ball is in my court and I can throw it out of bounds without consequence.
At this point, I’m sure you are invested in if I’m going to run, walk, or show up at all. My goal in writing this as my missed opportunity was to make my decision. Alas, no decision was made.
The real missed opportunity here won’t be the actual 5k. It’ll be my lack of follow-through on my training plan that I developed on that November day. I wish I’d tried harder to make it happen. Daily 7:30 a.m. meetings in the months when the sun goes down at 4:30 p.m. might be my villain origin story. But we shall see… we shall see.
UPDATE: Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022 - I did it! I walked/ran Frosty’s Frozen 5k. My back is sore. My thighs are sore. But it’s been a good day, and I’m proud of myself for participating. The looming idea of this becoming a missed opportunity is what pushed me over the line. Thanks, FOMO!
