Write on Wednesday- Forever Running

I didn't even start out slow, despite how nervous I was- I flew from the point I started, then took a steady pace when I realized what I was getting into- there are so many ways to stumble, you have to be careful. I soon became aware of this, my overconfidence brought me to a fate that has made me more nervous than ever.

Now I am shaky and uneasy, with each step I take, as I feel each step, each stride, unsure of where each one will take me. I fear I will waver, I've gone so far, and the path I've taken has not been easy. I've stumbled a few times, because I've tried taking paths that were different, but there were some unexpected twists and turns.

Sometimes the path goes up, sometimes the path goes down, and my legs are getting tired. It's been a long run, and each step feels heavier and heavier. I've run through the rain, I've run through the hail, I've run through all the various types of weather. I've been through so much sweat and tears, and so many times, I've thought I couldn't make it. I thought about quitting, but then I saw a finish line, clear as day, straight ahead, and I knew I had to keep going. I started running faster.

I fell on my face, I got hurt toward the end of that race. I started to cry, and even though a finish line was in sight, I almost quit, again. I had seen the glory and started running too fast. When I picked myself up, I knew that I should finish, because I had already put so much of myself into what I had done. I couldn't let it all go to waste. I started running again, but at a steady rate, like I had before. Feeling my feet hit the pavement at a steady stride, rather than the quick stride I had before, was actually a relief.

In time, I passed the finish line, and I got my grades back from my last semester. Perfect grades, to end a less than perfect university career. Overconfidence won me over for a while, but I overcame that, as well as a few obstacles and hurdles along the way.

I am now a university graduate, I have earned my Bachelor's Degree in Social Work, but I have not stopped running. The finish line was not the end of the race, it was just the start of another. There are many races in life, and this was one of the major ones.

Now, I know what I want in the future, but there is no finish line. University has a sort of finish line- that is, you do graduate, but you do continue learning for a lifetime. Life doesn't have a set finish line, a graduation that you can predict.

You just keep running, at a steady pace, through the sweat and tears, up and down, you just keep living. I'm running with no set end in mind this time. There will be other ends- graduate school, transitioning from one job to another, retirement- but I'll just keep running, forever running.

Write On Wednesdays Exercise 11 - Take a Walk: "Come back home and write what you encountered. Try to write so that your sentences feel the way the walking felt." Let's toss the 5 minute sprint aside this week and instead take a lingering stroll through our exercise.