Getting around that track

I remember in school, we ran track for one of the units in PE. I was awesome at the 100 yard dash. In fact, if it had the word “dash” in it, I could do it. I would have a burst of adrenaline and my feet felt like they flew over the red surface. (I didn’t need to know at the time that I was really one of the slowest runners, the point is, I FELT like I was running fast.) And I kept it up for the whole 100 yards. About the time my energy drained, the race was over. It was easy for me to finish.


Now, if you were to put me into a long distance race – say even one lap around the track – I flopped. I dragged behind everyone. Not just a little, sometimes, in the longer races, I lagged a whole lap behind. I was slowwwwww. And my enthusiasm for the race burned out by the first 100 yards. I would drag my sorry little self step after excruciating step over that track. Panting, gulping for air, gripping my side as I poked along. It was NOT easy for me to finish.

I have plans.

Big plans. Big, grandiose, wonderful, fabulous plans.

Whether I envision putting on a community carnival to foster love between neighbors or developing the ultimate job chart, I have plans.

Big visions. Big Dreams. Big plans.

Sometimes (only sometimes) I follow through. (Usually when those plans are more like a 100 yard dash and not the 2 mile run.)

Consistency and follow through have always been a struggle for me. I start so many things, so excited to finish. But after a couple of laps around the “track”, I am weary. If it is hard to finish, I tire out.

A story was told by our Stake President the other day at stake conference. He told us of a friend of his in high school that started out on the track team his freshman year of school. He was slow and would come in last every race. But he kept running. He ran over the summer. His sophomore year, he didn’t come in last every time, but was still slow and still wasn’t a good runner. But he kept running. He kept practicing. His junior year, he did better, actually finishing near the top, but not first place still. This boy KEPT practicing. He didn’t give up. By the end of his Senior year, this young man, who started as one of the worst runners, became a state champion in track.

The coolest thing, to me, about this story isn’t that the boy became a state champion but that he kept trying. He kept practicing. He kept pushing himself to do better and be better – until he was.

So, maybe I am not the most consistent girl on the blog block. Maybe I sometimes finish a project or discipline my children appropriately. Maybe I cook meals from scratch for a couple weeks or keep the laundry up for a day. But most of the time, I flop. Tire out.

My big huge plans of being a perfect mom (and everything else) don’t seem to be obtainable within that 100 yard dash.

However, I keep trying. And I like that. I might try 50 different job charts or 97 different ways of getting healthy meals on the table. And I might do a good job for a while. And then I might flop. i may flop everyday for a long time. But, if I keep trying, then eventually, I will be like that young man. I will eventually succeed.

Of course, my kids might all be grown by then. But the point is to keep trying.

And I think that is what is important.