Meet Katherine Beiers. At 85 years of age, she was one of the last runners to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon in 2018 amidst horrid conditions. It took her 7 hours and 50 minutes.
She showed as much courage as the first place finishers. You can read her story here.
Suffice it to to say that over the past 69 years of life I've run through some pretty turbulent weather. So have you. Life never gets boring. There's always a new adventure right around the corner. People have asked me, "What are going to do after you retire?" I realize that my retirement is very minor in the larger scheme of things, but it alters MY life and I'm allowed to have a response to it. My answer is always, "Just keep moving forward." Really, the trick is to accept your lot in life and stop dwelling on it. Yes, I will continue to teach (about two classes a semester). I'll continue to write and blog and travel and speak in churches. The farm work will remain another constant. I am also very excited about my upcoming races. I know I can't run forever, but maybe, just maybe, I will qualify for Boston when I'm 85. Even if I don't, Katherine Beiers has shown all of us the way we should choose to live. It's not in the limited world of living in the past but in the open-ended world of optimism, faith, hope, and personal choice.
Don't sit. Don't stand still. Keep moving forward. Run with endurance your race.