If there was an animal or creature that most symbolizes where I am currently in my human development it would be the snail. I know what you may be thinking, but let me explain.
Adding the gift of running to my daily life has allowed me to see how little, even tiny efforts over an extended period of time add up to monumental changes in one's life. It has taught me that over all other qualities, it's perseverance that wins out over any other 'seemingly' faster opponents. This new knowledge has allowed me to relax completely about all things immediately stressful and instead always focus on the long term and the big picture. This is an amazing discovery for a person who could not handle any stressful situation a few years back without totally losing her cool and doing drastic things to try to avoid all negative situations for fear of what it might feel like to not be in control. Seriously, I had given up on trying to fix this part of myself years ago. I thought that perhaps I was wired in such a way that I would always be deeply affected by even the smaller discomforts and I would simply have to ride the tides of fortune each time I got confronted, or each time bad news would roll my way. Yet, I am delighted to announce that here I am, finally able to roll with the natural punches life doles out to me and realistically keep my head above water. Thanks to running I able to deal with pretty much anything and work with it and maintain my body and my breathing quite even even in the most stressful of situations. Wow, what a gift!
