The Year of the Tortoise

Ahhh...the faint memory of months past has brought me to another adventure to embark upon.
How is everyone? I hope all is well.
You are probably wonder why I have title this 'The Year of the Tortoise'? Well, after this morning's run, I can safely say that I am definitely not the hare. I have lost it. My mojo, that is. I was huffing and puffing all the way. I could barely catch wind, muchless suck any while I choo-chooed my way up the minor inclines of terrain.
I admit, I have not kept up with a regular schedule of running, but I have been lifting weights and doing my share of squats and lunges. My legs are much stronger than they were before I ever started to train for a marathon. They're stock and thick...good for load-bearing, foundations for human pyramid formations...and the occassional deflective device needed as stand-in goalie for a shirts-skins soccer game.
As I ran this morning, I thought of the new runners embarking on their first journey into the realm of 'marathoner'. It was about this time last year that I was beginning to hear those voices. You know... the voices. The ones that sound like your voice, but not your words. "What in the world have you gotten yourself into?" "There is no way you can run a marathon! You're too old...out of shape...too busy!" It is very easy to give in to that voice, because it's so loud and we've all listened to it before. After all, aren't we suppose to listen to our conscience? I am here to tell you, it's not your conscience. It's your fears manifested. I feared the success of it all because I had become so caught up in the idea that 'something bad is bound to happen anyway' or that if I accomplished this, then I wouldn't be able to make or use the excuses I had in the past. I would change. Change can be quite scary. But it is also important, exhiliarting and inevitable. You've been changing all these years, what is the big deal now?
The big deal is that this change is something you can control. You are the master of your fate; the Captain of your soul. No one else has the power to take this away from you. There is so much negativity in the world that sarcasm and cynicism has become the norm and people don't realize that in manifests in how you think and act. But you can change that. Of all the chaos and craziness in the world, you have control over you and to change your life for the better.
So, if you're second guessing yourself, nervous, sad that your friends and your family don't share your enthusiasm, DON'T BE! All that will change. Even if you have to fake the confidence just a little to get you to that next meeting or that next mile, do what you have to to achieve your goal.
I am back out there huffing and puffing with you. I may not know all of you, but I've been there and I understand. So don't give up and don't give in...just keep going to you reach your second wind!