ENDURANCE

 Once upon a time, I was a runner.  HOW I loved those days and their early morning runs.  Every morning I slipped out that door to meet my partners to silently glide through the quiet early morning was an act of faith.  Faith that the run would be a great start to a great day.  It had a price.  I endured years of 4:30 A.M. wake ups.  I endured sore muscles, an aching hip, and days I had no gas in my fuel tank.  I endured running in the sauna like temperatures of Louisiana, the bitter cold which left ice on my back during our short winters, days when sudden rains left me with shoes filled with water and trying to outrun the lightning,  and the daily struggle of what clothes to wear (often leading to a strip in flight as I warmed up).  It was not easy and I endured quite a bit of pain.  It was SO WORTH THE PRICE!



I have been thinking about endurance lately.  The definition of endurance is

the fact or power of enduring and unpleasant or difficult process

or situation without giving way

We tend to look at endurance as a negative ~ we become focused on the unpleasant or difficult process or situation which lead to the need to endure.  I am thinking perhaps this is the wrong way to look at endurance.  Perhaps instead of focusing on that negative we should focus on the power referenced in the definition.  Perhaps we should relish the "not giving way".  What lasting joy to know we had the power to stick with the painful and not give way.  What a feeling of accomplishment.

We all are going to suffer some pain in life which will need to be endured.  Emotional pain or physical pain ~ both must be endured while trekking through this life.  The question becomes do we get lost in the process of trying to get through the pain or do we focus on the other side of endurance.

I can assure you of one thing, I never enjoyed the pain associated with running.  The benefits of my enduring that pain were enjoyed after the run was over.  Better health, better attitude, and a glow of accomplishment were not just temporary but in some ways life long benefits of enduring.  Had I become mired down in the period of pain I was trying to endure and lost the ability to look down the road, I would have given up.  Only keeping my eyes focused on the other side of the pain I was enduring kept me going.  I knew I would be the winner if I did not give up, but kept moving forward.  


Until I have crawled on all fours up that steep trail, I cannot enjoy the beauty of the view at the top of that mountain.  The secret is to keep the faith that at the end of that struggle, there will be a reward.  A reward well worth enduring any pain on the way.

"We can rejoice too, when we run into problems and trials,

for we know that they help us develop endurance.

And endurance develops strength of character,

and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. "

Romans 5:3-4

2 comments

  1. Endurance does certainly have it's rewards, Lulu. I do admire you for those early morning runs, that's for sure. I don't think I could have done that, although there are many other things in my life that have required my endurance and my willingness to stick it out.
    Blessings!

    ReplyDelete
  2. We build endurance from different sources, Martha. It all counts toward the ultimate goal of hope.
    Blessings, My Friend!

    ReplyDelete

Your comments keep my writing and often cause me to think. A written form of a hug or a pat on the back and an occasional slap into reality---I treasure them all!