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Life is a Race

I often think of my life as a race. How do you view your life?
Whenever you start something new, it is a bit scary and exciting, all at the same time. Everything seems to go really well at the beginning and in a weird way, you crave more of it. You find yourself giving more than you should and you want to hold back but you just can't. Eventually you find yourself a little tired from the extra effort but you are just so happy and excited and you forget about all those fears that you had from before you started.
Somewhere in the race you have a low point but it is easy to get over it. You certainly don't want to quit so early in the game so you find that inner strength and bounce right back.
Things start to get a little hard and you find yourself getting tired..both mentally and physically. You are nearing the end of the race and you just don't know if you have enough in you to finish. You would never quite but the words "can't" and "quit" keep popping in your head. With every movement forward your mind and body keep playing games with one another. One minute your body is strong and the mind is tired and the other minute your mind is strong but the body is weak. Despite the finish line being oh-so-close, you are really struggling and wish and wish that the finish line would move a tad bit closer.
This is the time when you have to dig deep. Really really deep. There will always be obstacles both in life and in a race. Finding your reason to get through those obstacles allows you to bounce back. Sometimes you bounce back faster than other times but eventually, with the right reason, you will bounce back.
Life is not about getting somewhere fast but reaching the finish line stronger than when you started. I always say "it's not about the fastest athlete but the one who slows down the least".
No matter if you are racing or are starting something new, realize that there will be ups and downs. Rather than looking at the past as a comparison, look at the past a tour guide. What you did before can help guide you in a positive place. Rather than wanting to do what you "use to" do in the past, ask yourself what you can do now in the present. Keep moving forward and eventually you will reach the finish line.

Speaking of racing....my amazingly strong hubby finished one of the hardest races here in the Florida Cycling series. The Webster-Roubaix race (think Paris-Roubaix race) is a 108 mile road race (Pro 1,2) on a nine mile circuit that has 2.5 miles of hard packed dirt each lap. It is a race for the mentally strong and fit as it doesn't leave room for error...or bad luck.
Karel even had a flat tire in the middle of the race and luckily the wheel truck was right behind Karel and quickly removed his tubular wheel and swapped it for his spare wheel. Karel pushed as hard as he could to catch the group and some how he managed to get back to the group, move his way up and sprint for 3rd place ....on the dirt.
Way to go Karel...so super proud of you!!!