Running, a Metaphor for Life....

  This past Saturday I participated in a local 5k with some friends from work!  It's the first race I have done in almost two years and I was really nervous about it...because I knew my time would suck...but thankfully it was a woman only race and since it was so hot, there was a lot of walkers.

 

(My friends and I after we all completed the race)

I really enjoy running.  I'm not fast by any stretch of the imagination, but I like knowing I can push myself to do something that five years ago I never would of dreamed I could do.  But, every time I run a race...no matter how long or short it is....there comes a point in time when I hit a wall and everything within me wants to shut down and stop.

  Saturday's race was no different.  I was hot, sweaty, and was having trouble breathing cause of the heat (for some reason this always happens to me when I run in high humidity...I struggle to get enough air and then I feel all light headed!!).  Plus everyone in my group...minus one...had passed me out within the first few minutes.  It would have been so easy to quit and say that I can't do it any more...to give up on myself and give into the fear and the sense of failure that I was feeling. 

  But I didn't....I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and setting little mini goals for myself (things like, I just have to make it to that tree, or don't let the person in the red shirt pass you)...and eventually I crossed the finish line.

  Turns out the race ended up being a great metaphor for life for me.  There are so many different aspects to my life, so many different things I am involved in....but in every single part of my life there always comes a point when I hit a wall or feel uncomfortable and want to give up or shy away and not do something.  I have a choice in those moment....just like in a race...to quit or to keep moving.  And when I choose to just keep moving forward....and choose to live in the uncomfortable-ness and face the fear....I end up being a part of something that makes me proud or happy or even just blessed.  Even when things don't go according to my plans or don't turn out as smoothly as I had hoped....if I just keep moving forward and choose not to give up...it's always worth it in the end!