Reflecting

I have been reflecting a lot about my year in running. I wasn't able to run as much as I would have liked, but it has been a great year! I've been reading other blogs and how they are reaching their mileage goals for 2010. My mileage goals went out the window several months ago...I guess I could sit back and feel sorry for myself, but you know, I don't. I am grateful for what I have accomplished. I have been able to do far more than I or the doc thought possible. That is a good thing! I have also been looking through past posts that I have written over the last couple of years and during that time I have learned so much about myself and running and what works for me.

I want to share a story I posted back in 2008 that was told by Thomas S. Monson.  I hope you like it as  much as I do.

"In everyone's conscience lies that spirit, that determination to measure up to the stature of true potential. But the way is rugged, and the course is challenging. So discovered John Helander from Goteborg, Sweden. John is handicapped, in that it is difficult for him to coordinate his motions.

At a youth conference, John took part in a running race. He had no chance to win. Rather, his was the opportunity to be humiliated.

What a race it was! Struggling, surging, pressing, the runners bolted far beyond John. There was wonderment among the spectators. Who was this runner who lagged so far behind? The participants on their second lap of this two-lap race passed John while he was but halfway through the first lap. Tension mounted as the runners pressed toward the tape. Who would win? Who would place second? Then came the final burst of speed; the tape was broken. The crowd cheered; the winner was proclaimed.

The race was over~or was it? Who is this contestant who continues to run when the race is ended? He crosses the finish line on but his first lap. Doesn't the foolish lad know he has lost? Ever onward he struggles, the only participant now on the track. Every eye is on this valiant runner. He makes the final turn and moves toward the finish line, the audience, as one, rises to its feet. Stumbling, falling, exhausted but victorious, John Helander breaks the newly tightened tape. The cheering echoes for miles."

We all face challenges in our running, or in life, for that matter, whether it be an injury or the blahs, we all face these obstacles at some point. We just have to keep our eyes on our goal and hang in there and remember that we do not run alone. The vast audience of family and friends will cheer our courage and will applaud our determination as we rise from the pitfalls and obstacles in our course.

Keep running!