Even flat roads can be hard!

     As I continue my running training for the Army Ten Miler in mid-October, the mileage has gotten longer and the time to think greater.  Misty has finally been able to rejoin me on some shorter runs as the weather has cooled, and I again am able to focus my energy on encouraging her and distancing myself from the fatigue, boredom, or lack of motivation that I sometimes face.

     However, it was on a more recent solo run that I was reminded again of a theme I have noticed before but never bothered to put into words.  As I get stronger, I find myself more willing to choose routes with hills...on days I am open to a challenge.  Imagine it...whether in a car, or on a bike, or on foot, more power, more energy, more effort must be exerted to get UP the hill.  And when we get there, it is a victory.  We've defeated the struggle and are often rewarded with a flat road that feels easy and fast.  

     Interestingly, when we go down a hill, we stride out, we coast, we let gravity do a lot of the work.  It feels great...freeing, almost, to be able to put in less work for sometimes even greater distance and reward!  The problem?  When we get to the bottom of the hill, the flattest of roads feels harder!  For some reason, our bodies, our minds even, see that what we felt before as easy and fast can suddenly feels more humbling...almost disheartening.  

     In life, we rarely face just one up hill followed by a glorious and easy flat road or a freeing downhill joyride.  Instead, we encounter every day challenges...difficult parenting moments, disgruntled customers or unmotivated employees, self-doubt, marital struggles, business failures and other uphill journeys.  Even when rewarded with a carefree downhill ride that lifts our spirits and our momentum, we then are faced with a seemingly harder flat expanse of normal, or worse yet, another hilly challenge.  Maybe it was of this that Walter Elliot was speaking when he said, 

"Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other."

     So how do we overcome this?  Does this really mean that when life is good...when the kids are behaving, the boss says, "Well done!" or you finally get a date night, and business is booming...does this really mean that we actually then need to try harder?  YES!  

   This does not mean we can't enjoy our victories, celebrate our good days, or coast down a hill with the wind in our hair and the best music in our ears.  It simply means that when rewarded with a victory lap, we should still pursue the challenge that will bring forth the NEXT victory.  And we should pursue it with vigor, determination, and focus.  It is in this that we can truly enjoy our downhill joyrides...because we know we are preparing ourselves for another.  

What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.  — Ralph Marston