Life is a Not a Sprint. But a Marathon is Still a Race. How to Live with Purpose

One of the worst feelings I've ever experienced was when I was in eighth grade.

I had just crossed the finish line of the mile-and-a-half race at the track meet, and I was exhausted.

I'd run hard and fast and finished near the front.

Why did I feel so awful?

Let me tell you.

Photo Credit: Kris Krug via Compfight cc

It started two years before.

When I was at the end of fifth grade, my parents and I discussed sending me to a Christian private school. I'd grown up in a small town where everyone knew each other and there were only about sixty people in my grade.

I thought going to a new school would be a fun opportunity to meet new people.

We decided to give the new school a try. I started the sixth grade in, literally, a two room school-house. There were only about fifty people in my grade, but they were fifty new people.

It was then that I learned just how introverted I am. I didn't mingle well.

Anyway, like at most middle schools, sixth graders were allowed to play football. I was mostly indifferent to the sport (soccer was my game) and my mom forbid me to play, so I joined the track team.

I hated it.

Running for hours on end… who does that?

But all through middle school I ran, and ran, and ran. I got really good, learned how to pace myself and have fun, as well as how to run with a team.

Life is like a race, wouldn't you agree?

Both have a clear start, a clear finish, and a lot of work in the middle.

Call life a race, call it a marathon; we could argue the phrasing, but a marathon is still a race.

Like all athletes, I didn't win every race I ran, but some defeats were worse than others.

Have you ever crossed a finish line, or completed a project by the due date, and realized you didn't give it your all?

Realizing I could have done better is one of the worst feelings I've ever had.

Realizing I didn't leave it all on the field and that I didn't do it all is a crushing defeat.

If I won the race, it was terrible knowing I didn't give it my all.

If I lost the race, it was terrible wondering what could have happened if I had.

If life is like a race, do we want to reach our finish line wondering what could have been?