My Enemy, the Finish Line

3/26/08 11:30 PM

This time, I don't have anything in mind or any conclusion to draw.

I'm reading a book about a man's decent into hell. I'm also talking to a guy who is making his way out of it. I'm talking about addictions and damages, sobriety and love. People have a profound impact on me. I think I am easily influenced and easily uplifted. I don't consider this a character flaw.

The hardest thing for me to learn is this- don't stop searching. Ask more questions. Know that the limits you give yourself are not healthy stopping points, but handicaps. Desire to look for more than you know how to ask- for more than the answer-to-the-question and then the period-at-the-end. Your heart is not that shape that you draw on paper. There are no lines or boundaries to what you can be.

Sometimes people run marathons. A big sign says 'Start Here!' and small signs have names on them: #59, #72, #28. Nice to meet you. Everyone near #28 hopes she doesn't slow them down. They Start Here and they all look for the Finish sign, which means they have completed that thing that they set out to do.

Half way through the race, a lady in her sweats stops to catch a breath and stumbles to the side for rest. She has come far, and unpins the 28 from her shirt. She knows when the next marathon is. She is eager to see how far she can get again.

Most will walk away having 'Started' and 'Finished' here and then there, and will never know how far they could have gone. Take down the Finish sign. The lucky ones will never make it to a finish line, but can be happy knowing that they have made it very very far.