Okay, so, just for fun here, fill in the blank:
"All I need to know about life I learned from _________________"
Mine is:
All I need to know about life I learned from running
1)Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Life requires us to endure to the end, neither quiting at any point in the middle, nor cutting corners.
2)Don't stop running. When all seems lost, and you feel you can't continue, don't stop, you can make it.
3)Don't pass a refreshment station (there is critical nourishment and encouragement there. Church, school, spirituality, meditation are the refreshment stations we need to take our time to help us prepare for the miles ahead of us the next days, weeks, months and years.)
4)It isn't the rocks in your path that trip you up. It is the pebbles in your shoe that cripple you. It isn't the big obstacles and temptations, but rather the little ones we discount as nothing that change our course, almost imperceptibly at first, and most dramatically down the road. Little choices we make are the ones that determine whether we succeed in life or not.
5)Use the right equipment. When you run, you must wear shoes that are designed for the task and fit, and change them when they wear out. Using the right equipment in life means getting a good education for the task we hope to engage in, whether it be in relationships or our chosen vocation.
6)Read and take to heart all you can about the task from those who have succeeded, not from those who talk a good game, but have never finished a race. The only thing you learn from failures is what doesn't work and how not to win. Taking counsel from those who do not have your best interest at heart almost always insures failure.
7)Intermediate milestones along the way help you stay focused and positive. We need to take inventory of ourselves from time to time to help us see if we are on track, and help us to make course corrections if necessary.
8)Look ahead, but not too far ahead. Few things are as discouraging as to realize that the finish line is so far away. However, if we focus on intermediate goals, the burden becomes lighter.
9)Proper nutrition is critical. The body needs proper glycogen stores to finish a marathon, which means building up those stores before the race and replenishing them constantly during the race. Reading good books, listening to good music, and feeding the soul with good things in the at night and in morning, and during the day insures our spiritual stores are adequate for our daily race.
10)Your best chance for success is by employing/working with a coach and/or mentor. Someone who has your best interest at heart, someone who lives or has lived the way you want to live makes the best mentor for life. If they have been there, they can help you through the hurdles and obstacles you encounter along life's way.
11)The end isn't the end, it is only the beginning. Even when we reach our goal, there is another that should follow. When you think you have "Arrived", you have just begun.
12)You can do it. No matter how discouraged you may become, you can succeed. You only fail when you give up and stop trying.
13)Don't allow yourself to become distracted from the goal. There are lots of interesting and enticing things along the way hat would draw us from the path. The promise of an easier path, or a funner path rarely leads up, but only down.
14)Enjoy the journey. Sometimes we get so caught up in the need, the must, the process, that we forget to enjoy what gifts we have been given this day.
15)Every mile in training helps to insure a successful run. Every test we take in school, every challenge we face and overcome, and every time we face our personal demons and win, we are even stronger for the challenges which surely are ahead.
16)You are not alone. Many have run before and many will run after. There is no thing that you face, that someone else hasn't faced and overcome before. They made it through, and so can you. Do not take counsel of your fears and doubts.
17)You can run farther and get there faster and enjoy the experience more when you run with someone who is like minded, matches your stride, and pushes you to go another step a little faster. Good company, whether it be God, or loved ones, or just like minded people make the journey more enjoyable and easier to complete, making our burdens and hearts seem lighter.
18)You will hit the wall, but you can and must get through it. We are here in life to experience and grow. Just as growth of muscle comes from lifting against resistance, personal and spiritual growth comes from lifting against the challenges we face and overcome each day.
19)There are people around you are cheering for your success. There are people around you who (although sometimes it may not feel like it) want you to succeed, we can and are meant to feed off their energy.
20)Cross training is important. Don't do one exercise to the detriment of the rest of your body. You need to become well rounded. In other words get a life. Work on your spiritual, emotional, temporal dimensions as well.
21)Hills can be your friend, valleys can be your enemy. When all is well, we tend to coast which weakens the muscles. When we strain against the hills of life, we are forced to slow down and often have the greatest growth.
22)It is never too late to begin. It is never too late to begin anything that you are passionate about. Just make sure it is right.
23)You are your own worst enemy. The conversations we have with ourselves, the past that we allow to dictate our present and future can either lift us or destroy hope.
24)Watch where you plant your feet. When I run along the rail road tracks there are lots of rocks of varying sizes. If i am not careful, I can turn an ankle. The resulting injury can take weeks or months to heal. The choices we make are in effect decisions we make as to where we plant our feet. Those bad choices can have a far reaching effect on our spiritual and emotional development.
25)Running is work, but you can find fulfillment in it
26)Coming in first or last doesn't matter. Finishing does. In Heaven, no one is keeping track of our position relative to anyone else. What matters is that we cross the finish line with our integrity in tact.
27)Listen to the signals your body is giving you. Those aches and pains are trying to tell you something. Emotional and physical Stress is our body and spirit attempting to communicate to us that we need to adjust the way we are trying to accomplish something.
28)Proper technique helps to avoid injury. Avoid spiritual injury.
29)If you get injured, get help. We all make mistakes. There are people trained to help us get through those spiritual injuries, and we need to be humble enough to use them.
30)The more you run, the more you can run. Strain, trial and success, and even failure help us to become stronger, more resilient.
31)Mark your progress daily. Keep a journal. It is important to document our progress to be sure that, and help us be aware that, we are actually making progress.
32)Be careful of the company you keep. If you run with a fast crowd, you will pay for it further down the road. This applies to running and life, literally.
33)Others have inspired you, and whether you know it or not, you are inspiring others.
34)A little proper nutrition before you start will help insure a successful day. Prayer/study/meditation at the start of the day, gives us strength throughout the day.
35)Proper nutrition at the end of a day's run will help you tomorrow. Prayer/study/meditation at the end of the day gives our mind and spirit something to work on while we sleep.
36)As I run my marathon, there are many someones that I do not know will hand me a cup of water that will insure my success. Without them, I would not make it. Each day there are loved ones, people I work for, and people who work for me who help me succeed.
37)What I learn from my experience I need to share and help someone else on their run along the path. What I have learned in life, I need to share with others. In this, we both move further down the path more successfully.
38)When I cross the finish line, someone else may cry more than I for my success. People who have been praying for me, encouraging me, and worrying for me will be happy in my success.
39)Stretching before and after a run prepares my muscles for the run as well as protects me from injury. If we simply go through the day and don't push the limits of what we are capable of, we cannot become more than we are at this moment.
40)My dog loves to run with me so much that it would run until dropping dead. We need to love someone so much that we would give our lives just to be there by their side and a helpmate.
41)Every day that I can get up and run is a gift. We never know when we will not wake up. everyday we wake up is a day we are given as a gift to accomplish something good.
42)On good days or on bad, when I receive encouragement whether from someone running along side me or someone on the sidelines waiting for me to pass by, it really does make a difference. We can be that someone for someone else.
43)There is a big difference between "I can't" and "I don't want to." Therein lies the difference between winners and losers.
44)When you get injured your body heals on its own time, not yours. You may want to run tomorrow, but when you have learned your lesson from a certain challenge, and that challenge will be lifted in time, you must be patient.
45)You get younger, not older when you run consistently and carefully. Work, effort, study, prayer, meditation all add years to your life, and life to your years.
46)A marathon is a great equalizer. There will be runners who are older who will run faster than you, and runners who are younger who will run slower than you. We are measured against the course. Some will be bigger or perhaps smaller, stronger or perhaps weaker, better looking or perhaps not, richer or perhaps poorer, healthier or perhaps not, than me.
---The above taken from a few lists on the Net.