I came across this quote not long ago, “Life is temporary. Work is temporary. One day, you will be incredibly successful at whatever you choose to do with your life. While that day may be difficult to imagine right now, start fighting for your future.” As the new year began, I started thinking about all I had, and hadn’t, accomplished in the last year. The words “Life is temporary” somehow kept rolling around my head. I was sipping on a chai latte at Macy’s, a local coffee shop, watching as people began their day when those words invaded my serenity. I couldn’t help but to imagine a clock ticking above each one of our heads, counting down the minutes before we expired.
I could visualize in my mind’s eye, a camera poised above the street and zooming out. People became ants crawling across the sidewalks. I wondered how many were going to work, or getting off of a night shift. My stomach tightened as I contemplated the number of hours I would spend working this year. All those hours and what do I get in return? I get to starve my way out of student loans and deprive myself of sleep. This too is temporary. The stress, the lack of sleep, the pointlessness are all a stepping stone for greater things in my future. There are lessons to be learned now and mistakes to be made before I continue down my path.
I have found it easy to become discouraged when I fail to achieve unrealistic goals. These failures blind me to the progress I have made and keep me from seeing the smaller success’s. I might not be at my target weight, but I am on my way. I may not be making money at doing what I love, but I still have the opportunity to do it. I might not have made a difference in the world, but I have made a difference in the lives of my friends and family.
“Start fighting for your future.” It is easy to think of the future as a time far away, one year or five years from now. In reality, it can be just a few seconds. When you wake up tomorrow, will you be thankful for the things you accomplished today?
Mile 29 