It's Time

It is a new month, so I guess it's time for a new post.
I've been having these thoughts swirling in my mind for a few days, and I figure it's best to let them out so as to make room for more Accounting stuff. Can't get too much of that, right?
So here goes....
I have been diligently running since I was given the ok after Caleb's eventful entrance into the world. It has been going well. I have been doing pretty great. But, I've noticed that I am getting to the point where instead of thinking, "oh! I get to run today." It's "Hmm, do I really want to run today?" This means it is time to find a motivating force like an upcoming race or a longer distance or a faster pace or something!
On Monday as I was getting toward the end of my run, but still had a fair stretch remaining, I thought to myself, "Self, you could walk a moment if you want, or just stop all together."
Before I could even relish the thought, it was almost like a voice boomed in my ear:

Finish the race!

I was somewhat confused since I wasn't in any race, to my knowledge. Then I remembered reading/hearing a story about a young man who was running a race and his father was watching and the boy tripped and fell and the father says to him, "Get up and finish the race." I really liked that story. But that morning as I thought about it, I really liked it. In fact, it made me almost teary, and lately it takes kinda a lot for me to get teary, and even more to admit to anyone that I got teary.

Well, I did and this is why:

Life is like a race. I used to think that to win, I had to run the fastest. After hearing Pres. Uchtdorf's talk, I don't think that is the case. I don't have to run the fastest. I may even need to slow it way down, or stop and stretch for a moment. That won't make me a failure. In fact, I may even find that after said pause, I am able to run better, maybe even faster.

The other thing is that it's really hard to get up from a fall. It takes a lot of energy, courage, and determination, and often swallowing of pride to get up and run again. It's even harder to get up after someone else trips you. I feel for those guys who get tripped up in a big race and miss out on their chance to compete in the Olympics or some other such event. It would be easiest to just walk off the course and blame it forever on "that jerk who messed up your chances." But then you'd maybe always regret not finishing. It seems pointless to get up and run again when the opportunity seems to have passed. I guess that is what really hit home the other morning. Who says the opportunity has passed? I don't get to just walk off the field. I started the race.

Even if I come in dead last,

I am going to

finish.