There’s a metaphor I’ve been using since I was in high school that helps me through challenging times like right now. It all goes back to running (as it usually does for me).
The 1600-meter run, my specialty back in the day, is four laps, and I was taught in high school that the third of the four laps is the one you need to concentrate on the most because if you look at split times, it’s the one where you tend to drop off and run the slowest.
It makes sense because you’re past the excitement of the start and even the energy you still have into the second lap (thus reaching the halfway point of the race). But that third lap, ugh, you just want stop and so you slow down, knowing you still have that final lap to go.
I see people’s posts, I see the struggles right now, and I know my own struggles and challenges, of trying to keep myself motivated in the face of many unknowns. I’m tired of it and I want to know that certain things are going to happen. But it’s not that way and I don’t know when it will be.
In trying to keep myself inspired, motivated, and focused (something I pray for daily), I realized how much what we’re going through is like that 1600-meter race. This is the third lap. We’re tired, but that’s when we need to dig down deeper inside ourselves to find the energy, the inspiration, and the motivation, to make the most of the situation our world is currently experiencing.
And in that, I couldn’t find a good photo for this post, but in the one I used, what I see is that question of, do I jump in? Do I do this?
Yes, I do. The water is cold and uncomfortable, but if I can get through this third lap, I know I’ll be able to get through the fourth. And to the finish.