Agonizing crawl to the finish

I remember running this 800 meters race once, it was my first attempt at running in inter-school championships. Having no exposure to the 'horses' that other schools were fielding I was pretty confident of placing in the top 3 before getting to the stadium. At the starting line, it was totally different story, I was completely intimidated, standing next to folks who looked old enough to be your father I dint think I had a chance. Strangely enough that prophesy soon bore fruit, puny little me was soon relegated to the back of the pack after the first lap. Coming into the final curve with the stands in front of me, I could see the gate to exit the track coming up before the finish line. I was so tired and exhausted I must have thought a hundred times, "Let me get the hell out of here. I am just embarrassing myself by being the only person on the track after everyone had finished the race". People were actually waiting for me to clear the track so that they could start the next race. And try as I might I couldn't pick my feet up faster than a VERY VERY slow jog.

Strangely enough this is the first I have ever thought back to that moment. I was working on my Michigan essays this morning, and for some reason I got the same feeling. That I was last at the gate, and the finish line was so far away, with the exit gate coming up fast. Needless to say I did complete the race the first time around, crawled to the finish line and then home with my tail between my legs, all the attitude drained out of me. So I am pretty confident I will complete this race as well. I just hope it will be with my tail and head up this time around.

Last night we received a phone call from my wife's parents. Apparently they were involved in an accident. Luckily it was nothing serious, just a broken arm that required a rod to be inserted. Strange how life is, one moment you are feeling sorry for yourself, so many things to do, so many things left undone, and in the next minute your perspective changes. You just feel lucky and glad to be hale and hearty. All your fears and troubles seem negligible compared to troubles of others. Amazing how fragile humans are, and we are at the top of the food chain?