Live Strong, Finish Stronger

Running, for me, is a time of reflection.  It is the time when all manner of inspiration decides to work its way into my psyche.  During yesterday's 5 mile, I contemplated the "Live Strong" mantra.  Maybe I was feeling particularly invincible, or maybe I needed the added motivation those words could provide.  Either way, I found myself thinking about the phrase. 

Athlete Lance Armstrong made the words famous, but strength is more than just a physical state.  Strength comes from the inside, and quite often one doesn't know the value of inner strength until the moment it's needed.  I like to think of life as a timeline, with wavy lines drawn all the way across the horizontal plane.    For some people, the waves vary only slightly above and below the bold line of years. For others, the peaks  stretch up impossibly high while the valleys dive sharply and far below.  It is during the times in our lives when the valleys are deep that we must reach inside and "live strong". 

Maybe that means we are taking a seemingly impossible situation and finding new positives as a result.  Maybe it means we are facing a challenge and searching for ways to overcome it bravely.  Maybe we are revisiting parts of ourselves long hidden, or leaning on the important people in our lives to help us access the strength we never knew we had.  Maybe we are setting new goals and putting belief in ourselves that we can reach them.

Beyond living strong, life can also be about finishing strong.  In a workout or a game, finishing strong always means accomplishment on some level.  In a game situation, the final score can mask the effort, but the individuals involved know they played their hearts out.  In a long run, the last six hundred meters are a time to pour it on, even if quitting seemed like a fabulous idea three miles before.   Too often our instincts make it easy to quit, in life as well as in our exercise endeavors.  Quitting means the challenge seemed overwhelming at the time, and it was simply easier to take the path of least resistance. However, quitting can bring about many regrets long term.  The old adage "hindsight is 20/20" is true for every single person, not just for a select few. No matter what the challenge, finishing strong will always trump simply giving up. In the words of the immortal Yoda, "Do or do not...there is no try". 

So go out there and attack your own adversity with strength and belief in yourself.  Whether it's a particularly tough workout or a serious life situation, know that you have the power to live strong and finish strong each day of your life. Be well, friends.