Challenges.

Wouldn't it be nice if there were no challenges in life? If everything was a breeze and reaching your dreams was a walk in the park?

But then again, where would the victory be in that? You might win, but it would feel... empty. Shallow.

And you wouldn't learn anything, either. Challenges and adversities teach us things about ourselves. It brings the yucky stuff to the surface. Do you tend to be lazy? Try exercising on a consistent basis. You'll find out just how lazy you are. Then you have a decision to make. Keep being lazy? Or change?

Do you tend to give up easily? Do you get excited about something, do it for awhile, then give up when it starts to get a little tough? Try to do something that you've never done before, especially if it's outside your comfort zone, and you'll find out real quick just how much you're willing to stick things out.

The challenges that we face when we try to do something new are what present us with an opportunity to change, or not. If we are willing to change, we can continue pursuing--maybe even reach or achieve--our goal or dream. If we aren't willing to change, however, we will stay right where we are: not meeting our goal, not achieving our dream. There's an old saying: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." But there's a variation on that that I like even better: "When the going gets tough, the tough get tougher." Being tough is tough. Not being tough is... well, easy.

Yesterday and today, running was tough again. Just when I thought it was getting easier, my right shin made it impossible to run further than a half a mile yesterday. Then today, it was hard running 3.1 miles again, and not because of my shin. It was doing better. It was just harder to run today, and hotter. During the last stretch of mile two, it started to get really tough. I pushed myself, giving myself a pep talk, but then finally I didn't care about the pep talk anymore. I stopped to walk and had no plans to start running again. I was going to enjoy walking the rest of the way, thank you very much. I came up with some pretty good reasons...er, excuses, too: my legs felt stiff; my right shin was better but probably didn't need to be pushed; I'm not running in the 5K race on Saturday, anyway, so what does it matter?

Then, surprise! A runner came whizzing past me from behind. I wasn't expecting it, since, in the area where I run most of the time, it's usually just me and the deer. As soon as I recovered from being startled, feelings of guilt washed over me and I blurted out to him with a laugh, "My body just isn't up to running today." He turned his head slightly to one side and smiled in acknowledgement, waved a quick wave, and ran on. I watched him for a moment, then started running again. I just couldn't take it. Another runner was running past me and I was walking. I ran behind him for awhile, at about the same pace, then he--being from the neighborhood behind me--turned and ran back past me again, and I felt proud then, even if I was scrunching up my face in agony. I kept running and finished out the route. I admit, though, it was a happy moment of relief when it was time to stop and walk again.

On the cool-down walk home, I found myself fighting self-doubts. Why am I putting myself through this? Is it really worth it? Do I really want to keep running, especially with the Florida summer heat approaching?

And the answer is, Yes, because I want to. Deep down, it's my passion, despite the harder days and the setbacks along the way that threaten to make me forget that passion. And because I need to, because it teaches me things about myself, things I need to change.