Life is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

It will take you beyond your breaking point, testing and trying your endurance. It will break down and deplete your glycogen storage –– turn your sugars into lactic acid that will cause muscle cramps, charley horse, torturous pain –– burn up stored proteins, cannibalize muscle and fat, and basically consume anything else it needs to keep you going. 

A marathon isn't over until you've done your 365 yards (just over 26 miles), so you can't stop. You can't tap out. It's not an option.

You're in it for the long haul. No matter how many things are being thrown at you while you're running, you just have to keep going. No matter how much you just feel like curling up in a ball and nursing your wounds, you just have to keep going. 

It isn't a sprint, and you no burst of speed will get you there quicker. Slow and steady wins the race. (Isn't that what we learned from the tortoise and the hare?) Sometimes the best things take time. Sometimes when you feel like you have nothing left and can't do it anymore, you realize that if it was worth the struggle up until now, it's worth continuing. 

Reminds me of this cartoon.