Don’t Take the Easy Path

A few years back I was walking along the path for the tour of the High Falls Gorge in the Adirondacks and there was a fork on the trail.  There in front of me, was a huge sign with an arrow and big bold letters that said “EASY PATH”! It was basically shouting at me and others “Don’t be a dolt and risk the other path.” Interestingly enough the other path had no sign but it was tacitly saying “Difficult Path”. I looked at the “non-easy path” and yes it was steep and wet but hardly treacherous and it gave you better views of the powerful waterfalls and gorge, yes you may get wet from the mist but there was a fence guard rail and other safety features and as I stated earlier it was hardly treacherous. 

The “easy path” was very nice and eventually led you to a distance view of the gorge and waterfalls but there was no mist of water on your face, no peeking over a steep cliff, and no steep climb, it was like viewing the waterfall on a high definition TV. 

It struck me that this fork in the road happens all the time in life. We are confronted with choices. While there may not be the big sign telling us the “Easy Path” we really don’t need it. We intrinsically know it. The “Easy Path” is safer with less risks and challenges. It is almost certain that the “Difficult Path” will entertain more risks and challenges. It is also certain that one of those risks - is failure.

While I have always gravitated towards the more “difficult path” in my life. With raising a family and trying to create a career, the “easy path” sometimes seem to be the only option. Then I began to take up running and things began to change.

Once I started running, I found out one thing more obvious about the difficult path – it leads to more and more paths. You start out and you can barely finish a 5K but something inside of you tells you yes I could have done better.  If I work a little harder, I can do it quicker and if I try a little harder, I can run farther.  Before you know it you are signing up for a 10K, or maybe even a half marathon.

At least that is what happened to me. I ran to get in shape for a Warriors Dash but after completing the race I realized that if I did not sign up for another race I may fall prey to the “easy path” so I quickly signed up for a Tough Mudder.  This kept me focused on running and training. One difficult path lead to another difficult path.  Soon there were Spartan Races and grueling trail races.  The “difficult path” kept presenting me with choices that were much more  interesting. Before I knew it. I signed up for a fifty-mile trail run and that lead to a series of ultra-marathons including a 100 mile run.

I realized soon that the reason I was avoiding the “Easy Path” was not that I was being a contrarian (Okay I will admit that I am a bit of a contrarian.) but that I was seeking challenges. It is one reason I love the running community, people are always seeking out challenges.  You see it posted all the time, runners all the time asking for advice as they attempt their first half, full, or ultra-marathon.  It is hard to describe the feeling of conquering such challenges but there is a sense of accomplishment and pride that permeates every molecule in your body. That includes the sore ones and maybe they feel it the most because those are your souvenirs of your accomplishment.

While I am painting a very positive picture of seeking out challenges and conquering them and basking in your success. There are two things that you should know about seeking challenges.

First, you will suffer setbacks and failure.  My first ultra-marathon, which was a fifty-mile race, was not very pretty. While I finished, it took me almost seventeen hours as I made a wrong turn and ended up walking the last twenty miles or so. My first Tough Mudder, I also finished but I was literally limping to the finish line. These setbacks however motivated me that I could do them even better the second time if I avoided my mistakes. Which I did.

Second, this feeling of searching for challenges to take on and conquer - is very addicting. As I described earlier I came to running ultra-marathons, because I kept seeking challenges.  I believe other ultra-runners took similar journeys. The problem is that the feeling doesn’t last forever and before you know it you need your race-fix again.

Actually, I made a mistake. There is a third thing that you should know. That is unless you decide to take the “difficult path”, you will never know what you are capable of. The “easy path” is one that maintains limits while the difficult path pushes the limits.

This is true in life as well as running. You probably see it at work. People who are very good at doing the bare minimum. We sometimes have to push and challenge ourselves. Our greatest achievements in life were almost always, a time we conquered a difficult challenge. Easy paths do not provide that same sense of accomplishment.

I am not saying we have to push ourselves to our limits every day. In fact, most of my runs are “easy” runs not pushing myself to the limits but preparing myself for the next major challenge.  Yet I am always on the lookout and preparing for a challenge because those options pop up often.

When the opportunity arises, and you are confronted with a choice of two paths. Which will you select?