The weekend of July 4th I participated in my first ever 5-K!
I struggle with chronic fatigue, and am always tired and wiped out! But my daughter was excited about doing a 5-K and she invited hubby and me to do it with her. So of course I said Yes!
Hubby and my daughter both assured me that it wouldn’t be that bad … I wouldn’t have to run … lots of other people would be walking.
The Saturday of the 5-K arrived! All was bright and sunny! It was a perfect day for a 5-K!
We all gathered at the starting line, and with great gusto we all counted down the start of the race! And with that, the runners were off! A few minutes later, those of us walking took off!
Within the first few minutes, all the walkers had passed hubby and me! … and we found ourselves at the back of the pack. Of course. That’s no surprise.
What did surprise me was how hard it was for me to walk that fast. Sure, I might be at the very back of the pack, but I at least wanted to keep up with the second-to-last-place couple who were several paces ahead of us.
I was giving it all I had … but I could feel my limited energy draining rapidly away … (like pushing the gas pedal all the way to the floor while going up a steep hill!)
How was I ever going to do this?!? Despair started to play around the corners of my mind.
My daughter had not only invited hubby and me to do this 5-K with her, but she had also invited her two best friends. And so … there at the very back of the pack, walking alongside hubby and me, was my daughter and her two best friends. Is that not the sweetest thing ever!
Hubby could have walked much faster! For sure my daughter and her two best friends could have walked way up with the rest of the pack! But they didn’t. They slowed their pace to match mine.
What an incredible gift!
They didn’t have to be at the very back of the pack with me who could hardly keep up. But they did!
It was mind-blowing! That they would match my slow pace when they could have walked so much faster!
And so … we all walked together!
We had the best time chatting together! And we had the most profound theological discussion along the way! I really appreciated their perspective on the topic we were discussing! It was the most incredible experience!
And I finished the race! I actually did it! Not only that, I was able to keep pace the entire time with the second-to-last-place couple in front of us! I strongly believe that I was successful in huge part due to hubby, my daughter, and her two best friends slowing their pace to walk with me.
It wasn’t about the race. It was about doing it together!
Isn’t this just like life itself !?
Life is like a race. It’s long … and it’s hard!
Some can run life’s race like all the trim, athletic young people who finished the 5-K with ease. And then there’s a whole lot of us trying to run life’s race … and it’s taking absolutely everything we’ve got!
But life’s race isn’t about seeing who gets ahead of who … or how much faster-than-everyone-else someone can go … or how far ahead they are!
Life’s race is about doing it together! Just like hubby, my daughter, and her two best friends walked the 5-K together with me.
It reminded me of a poem I wrote back in 2013:
Come Walk with Me
Come walk with me!
Come along.
Let’s share together
this journey we’re on.
Come walk with me.
Will you match my stride? …
so that together
we can walk side by side?
Will you walk with me,
though my pace is slow? …
and I can’t go as fast
as you normally go?
Please walk with me.
Please don’t leave me behind.
Though I can’t keep up,
I hope you won’t mind.
Please walk with me,
cause I’m not very strong,
and the journey I’m on
is hard and long.
Please walk with me —
cause that’s what friends are for.
And you can point out things
I’ve never seen before.
Will you walk with me? …
through my times of “thick fog” …
when my “life’s beach” is strewn
with heaps of “driftwood logs.”
Will you walk with me? …
the downhill mile or more
that it takes to finally reach
a calm peaceful shore.
Will you walk with me,
through hard uphill climbs? …
your presence is an encouragement,
so extra strength I can find.
Please walk with me –
we can chat along the way.
I learn so very much
from the things you have to say!
Will you walk with me? …
through life’s ebb and flow?
Our journey together
helps us both to grow.
So please, come walk with me!
Cause life is much more fun
when two walk together
instead of just one.
Lessons from a 5-K:
It’s not about the race. It’s about doing it together.
Who are you walking alongside in this race called life?
