Seeing Your Potential (Sediqa)

We all have those friends on the periphery of our circles. Friends of friends who come up so often, we have no idea why we aren't friends, or haven't had much contact. Fictitiously, let's call them the Beremy Jortz of the world. One of my Beremies has been Sediqa. Fortunately, my friend Stu persisted (for 5 years) in trying to convince me that Twitter wasn't just an sms to the world. I have made some great friends through Twitter, and some of this involves 'following friends of friends'. That would be weird in the real world. I imagine all sorts of Black Scorpions and Jumping Jortz getting very intermingled. Clearly we are better off in a world where we maintain our private spaces. Interesting people tend to hang out with interesting people. 6 degrees later and everyone is interesting. Sediqa doesn't use her real name on Twitter, so I won't provide a link unless she does... We wouldn't want you meeting or anything. If you did, you'd be lucky. She's awesome, and I am jealous of Stu for having her as a real life friend.

I clearly have nothing in common with Beremy... except friends

Seeing Your Potential
by Sediqa Khatieb

A few weeks ago Trevor asked me to write a blog post on "Happiness". This is what I've come up with. 

I've spent the last 9 months hustling.

Hustling, a word I use to describe doggedly chasing down my dreams and aspirations. To continue undeterred, even when you've been rejected a dozen time. To overcome self-doubt and relentlessly pursue your idea of happiness.

I am hell-bent on making 2015 the best year ever. To do this, to ensure that 2015 would be the most memorable year of my life, I had to set BIG, SCARY goals. Most of these goals involved running.

I fell in love with running in my late twenties. It wasn't an instantaneous love affair. I did not tie my shoelaces, pound the streets for 5 measly minutes and think, "This is great! This is how I'd love to spend EVERY weekend. I'd love to leave parties early just to ensure that I have a good night's rest before a race. I'd love to spend hours on the net, researching how best to fuel my body." Running was tough in the beginning. It still is.

But I persevered. And I developed a deep appreciation and respect for my body. I marvelled at how strong I've become. Hills that first represented a major obstacle were now scaled with ease. And I watched as the minutes on the stopwatch changed. I was crossing the finish line in less time. There was solid, visceral evidence that I was getting faster, better. All the hard work, all the sacrifices, all those early morning runs were paying off. And I couldn't help by wonder, "What else am I capable of?"

So I set myself some big, scary running goals. And I chased after them. Doggedly. And every time I achieve a goal I say, "I think you can do better. I think you're capable of more." And it's nice. It's nice to see your potential.

Sid... seeing something