How many of you are runners?
When I was young, I was the fastest girl in my school. (I had older brothers -- it was a survival skill.) Of approximately 3,000 students in my middle school, that status stuck, so I decided to go out for track...and lasted about a semester, when I mentioned to my dad (a doctor) that I was shaky and coughing and miserable for 3 days after running a mile. Turns out I had exercise-induced asthma. That ended my running career and I turned to biking.
Fast forward 30 years. My son, whom I had always assumed also suffered from exercise-induced asthma, decided he was going to run a 5K. He trained everyday for a semester, and when he called me and told me how proud he ran for 10 mi straight without even realizing it, I took that as permission to try again. If he could do it, why couldn't I?
My first running session was torture. I think I made it an eighth of a mile. If that. But I didn't give up. I took the kids to the park every other day, and I built on what I was capable of, pushing myself until I wanted to puke. Until my lungs ached. Until I was sure I was killing myself.
2 years of this, and I came to this magical place where I had built up to running 2 miles. As a teenager, I had never run 1 mile straight, and I was stinkin' fit!
So what got me there?
1. It started with seeing another person go the distance, realizing it was possible.
2. Making a plan--I had to have a pathway to success. I had to be consistent. I had to push through even when it felt like torture.
3. I had to make realistic goals. Small ones at first, building, pushing myself harder and harder.
4. I had to keep my eye on the Target: the hope of being healthier and having more endurance daily to handle the demand of multiple kids, homeschooling, directing plays and musicals, and so, so much more.
This one success story in a plethora of failures. There were many times when I had to quit running due to injury, only to pick up a month or two later and build to where I had been. My joints didn't like the exertion. Oftentimes, I'd limp for my run. My lungs hated me. They screamed they couldn't pump through another step.
But ultimately, it was possible.
I listened to a talk once about a man who sat down with a billionaire and asked what his secret was. What could he do to reach the level of this expert? The man told him Marilyn, the story of The tortoise and the hare. He said “be the tortoise.”
In another inspirational talk given by multi-marathon runners, I heard some of the best advice ever: “Never question the race on the uphill.” – Meaning don't consider quitting when you're on the hardest part of the course. Wait until you are gliding down the hill before deciding whether or not it's worth quitting.
These are the keys to success. I them realized in three of my kids who've reached adulthood, two more on the way. I see them in the talents and skills I've gained through the years. I see it through our slow accumulation of successes in every aspect of life.
We get too anxious to Sprint. We get excited by small successes and think think we've done it. The reality is:
Life is a distance run.
If we can learn the art of the distance run, we'll finish our race with success, joy, and the sense of accomplishment that only those who crush hardship can know.
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