Living our Metaphors

I just got back from a cold 2.5 km run. I was thinking before I left that I'd run the beautiful almost-7 km route by the river, but once I got outside and felt the cold I thought I'd do the 5 km route. My 5 km residential route starts in the same way my 2.5 residential route does. By the time I had run the first half kilometer (which is all uphill), I decided it would be a 2.5 km day. It was -15, but with the blowing wind/snow, I'm thinking it was around -20. I was smart enough to wear a running t shirt, a running long sleeved t, and a cotton hoodie along with my warm running pants and a toque. I knew to wear the toque because of an earlier November run without a toque, when I realized that my ears were going to be permanently frozen if I didn't start wearing a toque.

The hardest part of any run for me is just finishing it. I always get to the last half kilometer and think "well, that's good enough, I may as well walk home". I hate that side of me. I hate it! If I give in, it's a moral failure, because it's not finishing something I started. I forced myself to run the last bit home because for me, it's just a metaphor of my life. I'm nearing the end of this semester. 3 weeks left. What do I want to do? Give up. I'm nearing the end of my degree - 2 more full semesters plus 3 weeks. What do I want to do? Give up!

For me, it's not really giving up that's the problem. After all, if you walk the last 500 m of a run, you still get home, right? The real problem is running the last 500 m with the same determination and commitment to excellence as the first 500 m. It's the same with school. I could finish my semesters with Cs, or I could finish with As. What will it be?

So I ran the last 500 m. Because if I can't even live my metaphor, there's really very little hope for living my life.