Something I have noticed more and more over the years, especially in business is the severe lack of interpersonal communications skills among people anymore.  Email, text messaging and other online forms of communication has replaced the courtesy of a phone call or a personal meeting, online services create a world where people can hide and really don't have to deal with things as they would in years past.  In fact not too long ago I was at a trade show and noticed some of the reps from different companies really didn't seem to know how to interact effectively with their accounts face to face.

Growing up playing sports, we were always taught that one of the benefits is the value of learning to work with others, teamwork.  This is still true today, but to add to that I think more than ever sports brings a new element in that it teaches valuable social skills.  It always did, but I think the value of this has gone up given how we are such a tech world now and ultimately we can do our jobs and live our lives and never really have that much human interaction if we choose not to. 

To quote Kip from Napoleon Dynamite "I love technology...." and I do.  We can be more productive than ever and in less time.....but are we being just as effective.  We have a customer that comes into our store and his job is centered around the internet and email.  The reason he runs and participates in local 5k's is because it gets him out and around others that he can get to know and talk to.  In my book, that human value that sports brings far outweighs technology.

Everybody gets dinged up every now and again.  Now seems to be my time.  After training weeks for a half marathon just 3 weeks out I am diagnosed with tendinitis in both my knees.  Pain was pretty bad and I am now sitting out the race and playing a supporting role for my wife and friends as they run.  But thanks to modern medicine I am already on the mend and targeting my next race.

I see many folks just pack it in when they get banged up.  Say well obviously this sport isnt for them.  Central Florida Running doesnt always lend to the easiest surfaces on our legs.  Our trails are asphalt not hard packed dirt so sometimes we will feel the result.  But it is more productive to learn from the injury than just pack it up and go home.  For example, I was reminded of the benefits of cross training.  I need to spend more time on the bike and doing some weight training to strengthen my legs.  This will help strengthen my knees thus avoiding this problem again, but I need to be diligent.

So don't just take your ball and go home, learn from your injuries and get back out there.