Latest / The Talent Brief / The Version of Myself
Transcript
- Jeff Ganter: Welcome back to the talent brief. I'm doing something a little different today. I had to stop in the middle of my run because I knew if I didn't record this now, I'd lose that feeling that inspired it. I've been thinking lately about something I never expected to miss this much. Running. Now, for those of you who know me personally. You're probably smiling because you're thinking, Jess, I thought tennis was your thing. You'd be right. Tennis has been and will always be my first love. It's been a part of my life since childhood. It taught me discipline and resilience and gave me some of the greatest memories of my life. But somewhere along the way Trail running found its own place in my heart. It became my sanctuary. It wasn't about pace. It wasn't about distance. It wasn't about training. It became where I untambled my thoughts, where difficult decisions became a little clearer, where I celebrated victories no one else knew about. where I worked through disappointments no one else could see. It became one of the healthiest conversations I've had with myself. Then everything changed. Back in twenty seventeen, after smoke inhalation from wildfires, I developed allergies induced asthma. For me, it's primarily respiratory, struggling at times for oxygen. Over the years I've become highly sensitive to things I never used to think about certain grasses, wood burning fireplaces, smoke, certain trees, chemicals, and even windows open at the wrong time of the year. It's been frustrating because almost overnight, something that had become such an important part of my mental health became incredibly difficult. At first I kept thinking this will pass a few weeks, maybe a month, and now it has been years. My life had other plans, and somewhere along the way I realized I wasn't just missing running. I was missing the version of myself I found out there. Today was different. Today for the first time in months I felt like I could try again. And when I say run, let's just call it runnish. There were moments I had to slow down. Moments my lungs reminded me that healing doesn't follow my schedule. It I wasn't fast. I wasn't strong. I wasn't. anywhere close to where I used to be. But somewhere during the run I smiled. This Not because everything was back to normal, because hope showed up again. And maybe that's why I wanted to share before I forgot how this felt. Sometimes we think we're grieving this activity, the job, the relationship, the season of life. But what we're really grieving is the version of ourselves we sound. Maybe that's to why today matters so much. Not because I got my run back. Because I remembered that hope doesn't always return all at once. Sometimes it comes back one careful step attitude. Thank you for letting me share another piece of my journey. Every story shapes us. My hope is that this one helps you see a little more clearly through your own.