Aztec Wonders
by Havelock Ellis
Okay, so I am sure you are all wondering what this quote on failure has to do with traveling in Mexico. Don’t worry, I will explain.
I failed today… miserably. No “ifs”, “ands” or “buts” about it. Failed. For the last six months, I have been training for a half-marathon that was to be run this morning. And so I did… out there in the rain, ready and willing to go. About 2 kilometers into the 21 kilometer run, my knee started acting up… but I pushed through. Then again, acting up, kept on pushing. Then around kilometer 6, I thought I should probably stop to stretch it out. Well, once I stopped, there was no starting again. My knee completely seized up and I couldn’t even walk. I cannot tell you the feeling of disappointment that washed over me. It was brutal. As I was hobbling back to the car, my lovely trainer was reminding me that it was not about the race, but the process of training that was what was important and impressive. I tried to buck up, but man was it ever hard when I couldn’t put weight on my left foot to save my life.
But then, I got home and I started looking online for other races, and I found this quote. I thought to myself, “You know what? He is so right! I can just fix whatever is wrong with my leg; do a little research about what is up with my leg and how I can prevent this from happening next time.” If I choose to look at the bright side of this whole ordeal, I really did learn quite a bit about where my body is right now, and the things I need to do in order to get into the most ideal shape so as not to hurt myself. So there is a silver lining!
I just wanted to share that with all you. I found it quite inspiring and so awesomely profound. I get so caught up in the result “the race” and I completely overlook the amount of triumph and learning that I gained during the process of training and even failing. It is such a gift and this whole experience just supports the phrase that I am trying to live my life by, “Life is a journey, not a destination.”
So true, so true.
Okay, so, enough of that failure talk, back to my trip to Mexico. The Aztec ruins were awesome! I woke up early in the morning after having an evening of incredibly strong cactus alcohol and traditional Aztec dancing, to go for a beautiful sunrise run around the temples.
There are two temples in this specific spot; the sun and the moon. They almost look like natural hills because of all the trees and nature growing over them, but once inside the park, you can see evidence of a truly amazing and sophisticated community of people. I was so amazed by the art and architectural design of the place. It was truly overwhelming. I will admit that the human sacrifice table was a bit creepy and the fact they the world is predicted to end in 2012 is also a bit unsettling, but other than that it was fantastic.
I have attached a few pics of the trip and some fun stuff from the day! Enjoy and let me know your own thoughts and experiences around failure. I’m sorry to keep bringing it up, but it was really a cool experience today.
Ciao, my fellow thinkers!
Allison
