I recently completed my first 15K Run in beautiful Utica, NY. I must say that the town of Utica completely comes alive for this amazing traditional event. Literally thousands of folks lined the streets to cheer on the 15,000 runners who showed up last Sunday. I was reminded about one of my favorite concepts – if you want to create community, create a compelling event – people will show up. They sure did in Utica!  But I digress…

This blog is about the word “achievement.” After I posted on Facebook that I had completed this run, my two friends Leza Danly & Jeanine Mancusi, both posted similar thoughts. They congratulated me on my accomplishment of having run 9.6 miles and then proceeded to ask me, “What had I achieved from this run?” What a great distinction: accomplishment versus achievement. What I had accomplished is running a 15k event. That is great AND what had I truly achieved? There are some top level answers such as taking better care of my body as I trained for the past 6 months, etc. And yet, there is something much deeper that is about the achievement of it. It is challenging to put it into words even. What I can say at this point is that we can and do accomplish much in our lives, if we so choose. And the deeper and more important question to then ask is “why am I doing these things?” “What am I trying to achieve from my accomplishments?” Can you feel the difference between accomplishment and achievement? I can say at this point that I mostly did this race so I could achieve a feeling of doing something that I was not sure I could do. I love expanding my self. How about you? What is it that you are truly wanting to achieve from your accomplishments? Do share…. love to hear!

Thanks for reading– From Tokyo, Rick