The marathon of life

[not literally.  no worries]

3 days until my 3rd marathon.  love it.  even with my new injury [huff] and chipmunk cheeks [huge huff] from prednisone.  can't wait. I am slightly looking forward to 6 weeks off though too.  [sorry in advance for the possibly bad analogy to follow but I've been meaning to write this since the marathon in Tucson 5 weeks ago].

There is something completely awesome about the marathon.  Forgive me, I had a good 3-4 hours to think about this.  The "marathon" is so much like life. [This may get thick - I'm the girl who truly thinks each Disney movie in some way or form can be spiritual and has a lesson we can all use in day to day life.]

Running:  We hear the gun.  we are excited.  we want to be here. we have a goal.

Life: We all so badly wanted this chance to come to earth.  to prove ourselves worthy to return to live with Him.  we signed up for this chance.  we have a goal.

Running:  We see hills that look defeating.

Life:  We have trials [really hard ones and daily ones]

Running:  we are given things to help us [water/sports drinks/energy packets-Gu]

Life:  we are given tools [prayer/scriptures]

Running:  we hear cheering.  we see posters.  encouragement.

Life:  we have family support.  church leaders.  friends.

Running:  we have aid stations to fix what ails us.  ibuprofen.  band-aids.  wraps.

Life:  we have forgiveness.  repentance.  another chance to get back on course.

Running:  we cheer for each other.  realizing we have a common goal.

Life:  we cheer for each other.  realizing we have a common goal.

Running:  seeing those we love with all our hearts, at the finish line bring tears to our eyes.

Life:  the thought of seeing love ones lost, in this life - is reason enough for me to do even better each day.

Running:  to be wrapped in the foil blanket knowing you just achieved something great.  awesome.

Life:  to be wrapped in my Heavenly Fathers arms - - to know I've achieved the greatest goal/gift I could ever hope to.  amazing.