The Power of Yet

It's amazing how small words can have big impacts.  "Yet" is one of my favorite examples - it's a word that can indicate potential, possibilities, and desire.  It's a word that says "I'm not now, but I can become".  It's almost an optimistic word by definition, and therein lies its power.

The first time I realized how good a word it was happened after my first half-marathon.  It was a grueling effort, far longer than I had ever run before, and I had made lots of rookie mistakes (overdressed, went out too fast, bypassed one water station too many, etc.).  By the time I hit 10 miles, I was wiped out.  I was done with running, cursed my coach - it was a bad scene.  After I finished the run, my coach Dan told me that if I could run a half the way I did, I could run a full marathon.  My response was typical: "There's no way I can run a marathon".  He looked at me with a glint in his steely eyes and said simply, "yet". 

I didn't get it right away, but he was right - There was no way I could run a marathon yet, but I *could* run one.  I hadn't thought it possible to run a half marathon, but I had just done it.  It wasn't pretty, but it was my first attempt at anything over 10 miles, and I had made it work.  That idea of "yet" stuck with me, and before long, I was training, and then running, the New York City marathon, and then 5 more since then.

"Yet" applies in so many ways, though.  I can't do 100 pushups straight....yet.  I can't do more than 10 pullups .... yet.  I don't know how to cook a gourmet meal...yet.  I can't write a good blog (maybe that one stays that way for me).  Those three letters change a sentence from a limitation to an aspiration.   A 'never' to a 'someday'.  The impossible to possible.

I find myself looking for it now whenever people say they can't do something.  I ran a race with my sister recently, and when another, longer race came up, she said that there was no way she could run that distance.  I hesitated, waiting for that magic word, but it didn't come. So I said it.  This time, she hesitated, and I was taken back to that half-marathon again, with the tables turned.  Only this time, she was quicker than I had been .  She understood what I was saying, and she responded, "yet".  She knows what is possible if she has the will.

Next time you find yourself using the C word (can't), choose to add "yet" to the end of your sentence.  You may find new doors opening in your mind.  The biggest thing standing between us and excellence, the realization of our full potential, is our ability to imagine that we can succeed. 

And I'll keep writing.....even though I'm not really good at it (yet).