Growth

I've always been pretty sure I have a mild form of OCD. I've never been actually diagnosed or treated for it, but I have noticed I have tendencies that most normal people don't have, and none of these tendencies have ever actually affected my life.

To give you an example, I always get specific drinks at different restaurants. Whenever I'm at Burger King I get Dr. Pepper, at McDonald's I get Sweet Tea, at Taco Bell I get Mountain Dew and the list goes on and on. I've always done this and never thought anything of it until I started drinking primarily water. Many times I couldn't force myself to get water at these places, because it just didn't feel right. I'm pretty sure this is an OCD tendency.

Another of these tendencies that has affected my running is that I never step on the cracks in the sidewalk. I've done this as long as I can remember. I'm pretty sure this all started with the whole "Step on a crack, break your mother's back" thing, however, I've known for years that doing this probably won't actually break my mother's back, it just didn't feel right to do it.

Every time I've gone running for the past couple of weeks, I concentrate way more on not stepping on the cracks then on the actual run. I never really enjoy the runs, because it feels like a chore. I have to put a lot of effort into not stepping on cracks, especially when I run in a city sidewalk full of cracks.

Today when I went running, I decided I was going to not care and see what happened. I was amazed at how much more fun it was to run! I noticed how bright the sun was shining, how beautiful the blooming trees were and how great the breeze felt on my face. And surprisingly, when I stepped on a crack, nothing happened. I didn't have a panic attack, the world didn't end and my mother's back didn't break, I know because I recently talked to her, she sounded fine.

I guess the point of this article is to demonstrate that working towards a goal, like really working towards it, can really change your life. I never expected to conquer these little annoyances in my life by training for a marathon. I'm so glad I decided to make a blog for this, I'm excited to see what else happens to me along this journey, I really believe I'm going to be a much better person by the end of it.

Maybe next time I go to Taco Bell I can order a water. Baby steps.