When the going gets tough the sprinters get out.
It was a little joke we had when I was on swim team. And being a sprinter, I must admit some truth.
Some may find the comparison of love and sport a little heartless, but in many aspects it couldn’t be any more similar because when it comes right down to it love and sport equates to our individual commitment and effort.
The differences between sprinting and distance are mental and physical, and even emotional. Sprinting is a full force burst of energy building to a climax and then you’re finished. It is purely physical and often high on emotion. Distance is a mental race of pace and calculation. It is physically challenging oftentimes removing emotion from the equation. Emotion could disrupt the mental strategy of a long distance race.
There is little doubt in the race for love there are sprinters and those who go the distance. As not all athletes are built for the same, the same goes for lovers. Sprinters tend to have many lovers – hot flames that burn out quickly and those who go the distance live often times contented (sometimes passionless) lives. Meanwhile sprinters always look for the one to go the distance and distance lovers often envy the passionate love affairs of sprinters. Is there a middle distance and how do you achieve it?
Conditioning: Basically we have to be in shape, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. If not in shape sprinters will burnout quickly and the distance lovers will hit mental blocks and emotionally withdraw.
Getting into shape requires understanding ourselves and our nature, are we sprinters or distance lovers? Sprinters may need to control the pace of a budding romance and their emotions and those going for the distance may need to work on building passion for the race and become emotionally involved, not just calculate the future.
We are all unique in how we approach love. Our success depends not on understanding the game, but ourselves as lovers.
