Believe it or not, I have run a marathon or two. No, I didn’t run them non-stop (I’m awesome, but not world class), but I did finish each one I entered.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with marathons, they are 26.2 miles in length and are named after the town in Greece which is named Marathon. There is more to the story and if you are interested I suggest you search Pheidippides and begin your own quest for knowledge/information on the history of marathons. Back to the reason I’m writing today, ‘The Suck’.
You see, during every marathon I’ve run (except the first one) there was that moment (and often extended periods of them) when I questioned the reason I was intentionally putting myself through sheer agony. I now call this ‘The Suck’ and it is, as I have discovered, the real reason I do it.
The fact is, without ‘The Suck’, you can’t enjoy the jubilation of the end of the race, the joy of accomplishment or the satisfaction of eating a plain turkey sandwich on a dry tea bun. It’s the low periods of life that make the high times seem truly high. And as hard to believe as it is to believe, the highs are higher when the lows are lower.
Through our struggles we learn. We learn new ways to do things. We learn new ways not to do things. We learn what we can and presently can’t do (I say presently because can’t just isn’t part of the equation). We learn that life is worth living. We learn how to live. We learn and that is what I love to do.
So I say to you today and everyday:
EMBRACE THE SUCK
Hill, Mr. Hill 