Running the Race

The race of life is always filled with challenges and struggles. I’ve found over the years that even the people who seem to have perfect lives still have struggles. Their families and circumstances aren’t perfect. Life can be hard for all of us, and finishing the race of life requires resiliency, endurance, and grit.

Last week I had one of my quarterly checkups with my oncologist. While I never worry about the visit, there is always the question about health and cancer whenever I go to see the oncologist. Am I ok? Are the scans clear? Is my body cooperating?

I’ve often told my family and physicians that should I get cancer again, I’ll happily get back in the ring and fight. I can beat cancer. I’ve won the fight/race before, and I can win it again.

In the same vein, I’ve often told them if I have a stroke, just get me a pillow and let me die. The cancer fight, while challenging and painful, was much easier mentally than the stroke. For me, beating cancer was all about pushing through the pain and nausea. The stroke messes with your mind. It challenges the way you see the world, people, and even yourself.

The cancer battle was a full year, but the impact of a stroke lingers beyond any date on the calendar. The struggles are different. For me, the stroke was not as much about the physical as it was about the mental.

Nowadays, I have to choose to discipline my mind, attitude, and actions. It’s all about endurance, grit, and resiliency. And if I’m going to be resilient, I have to be intentional about guarding my mind.

I’m often reminded that endurance and resiliency walk hand in hand. Being resilient requires you to find ways to endure and push through challenges. Recently, our oldest son, Cody, ran a 50-mile ultra-marathon in the mountains of Colorado. It was an 18-hour race (much longer than he expected or anticipated). The race started just before dawn, and he ended his run at midnight.

During his run, he encountered a bear and a moose. In both cases, he didn’t have a gun, a weapon, or bear spray ... just a couple of ski poles to help him navigate the path in the dark. And while that sounds both crazy and scary, he told me that the hardest moment was at mile 30 when he realized he still had 20 more miles to go.

While I’m super proud of him, I really don’t understand why someone would want to run 50 miles.  Yet, he found a way to persevere and stay in the race.

His experience reminded me of things we learn in those moments when we face life’s biggest challenges.

1.        Sometimes those moments are chosen (a 50mile ultra-marathon), but many times they are cast upon us (cancer, stroke, death, divorce, etc.). The question for each of us is not, did we choose the obstacle? The question is, can we endure the situation?

2.        Every race has challenges and surprises (bears, moose, sickness, etc.).

3.        We can finish the race; we just need to push through.

4.        There’s always a moment when we question our decisions when life’s race is difficult.

Many of you will remember that within the first 2 months of my cancer journey, I ended up in the hospital for an extended period. Unbeknownst to the physicians or me, they were giving me a chemo drug that my body would not metabolize. When the oncologist came to see me, his first words were, “You’re supposed to be sick, but not this sick. Clearly something is wrong.” After several days, I told Katie, “I now know why some people tap out and opt for quality of life over quantity of life.”

The journey was hard, and the challenges were significant, but I/we decided that I could/would endure whatever came my way. I could win the race. I just had to keep up the pace.

Always remember, you can win the race. You can finish. Choose to endure. Choose your best!