That’s Life

Two of my nieces completed their first road race last weekend and I’m proud of them. I remember those days. The accomplishment of running a mile without stopping; finishing 3 miles without dying; and slowly building mileage until training was over and race day arrived.

I remember the fear and trepidation at the starting line. Doubt and insecurity suddenly became my running partners. Everyone around me looked so excited. Not me. I looked like I was about to puke and we hadn’t even started running. Somewhere around the middle of the race, negative thoughts started creeping in, “What was I thinking?” “Who said this would be fun?” “I’m never, ever doing this again.” And then, there’s the finish line. Smiles from ear to ear appear and a sense of accomplishment and pride overtakes the exhaustion and sore muscles. Next thing you know, you have a medal around your neck and you’re talking about your next race.

I have another friend who was running her first marathon last weekend and I’m proud of her, too. She ran about 700+ miles over the course of several months in preparation to run 26.2 miles last Sunday. She carb loaded, drank copious amounts of water, and spent an unbelievable amount of time training. This girl is built for running with legs for miles and a smile to match. In fact, she was a collegiate athlete just a few years ago. About half-way through her race, her knee became painful. Rather than do permanent damage, she very wisely listened to her body and withdrew from the race. I know she’s disappointed and I don’t blame her. She did everything right; I guarantee you there was no one more prepared than my friend.

Such is life. You can decide to do something you’ve never imagined possible and actually succeed despite your inexperience, doubt, and terror. And, you can be an accomplished expert and life (or a painful knee) gets in the way. There are no guarantees in life but thank goodness there are do-overs.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m proud of these young ladies. All three demonstrated impressive amounts of determination, resilience, and wisdom. I can’t wait to see what they do next.

❤️❤️❤️