The Marathon has its Merits

So, this paper is not going well. However, I am determined to turn something in to Professor Peltier tomorrow, no matter what. Having said that, I still bear in mind the personal lesson I had come to learn a couple years ago. I came to believe that, once one has realized that he is not ruled by the limitations of the body and mind, it ironically becomes far more important to respect those limitations from a realist perspective. I apologize to the reader, for I am not always clear with my thoughts. Perhaps a suitable example would be that of the Marathon runner. A person who accomplishes the extraordinary feat of running a marathon also attains a great personal victory. All the hardships and trials of endurance during the training are important of course, but so are the three to five hours of actually running the 26.2 mile-long race. Think of what must be going on in the runner's mind during these times! I believe that to finish a marathon is to gain a disciplined command of one's self. Self doubt, fatigue, pain...these things need enslave the mind no longer. However, I have seen some, including myself, forget their own mortality during their walk in the clouds. For a person I once called a friend, the fall from the heavens was a broken body. After running her marathon, she thought she was invincible. Reality came crashing down, and she learned her lesson, thankfully without any permanent damage. Whatever one's marathon may be, it is important to not get ahead of ourselves. My hypocrisy knows no bounds, for I seemingly still have not learned my own lesson of mortality. Even now, in this moment, I deny my sickness, knowing it will catch up with me soon. Something else that I am determined to do is perform in the jazz ensemble concert on Tuesday. Unless I am coughing up blood in a hospital somewhere I am going to be there. Am I too hard on myself? Too easy on myself? I don't know, but I take strength and solace in what this picture from the happier past reminds me of, which is the genuineness that people are capable of but which we rarely see, the harmonious connection people share with each other and with nature, and being a bad ass. Unending endurance comes from Lisa Frank dotbooks, no lie.