Last year it took me 7 hours and 2 minutes to finish the Chicago Marathon. That’s 422 minutes. I could have watched 3 full length movies or listened to Born to Run 93 times on a continuous loop. The winner could have finished the race and flown back to London before I returned to Grant Park. I watched them sweep the streets and take down the mile markers but I finished. Each of the 45,471 runners that Sunday was very much alone in our grueling task and never alone at any point along the road. The runners’ battle was with themselves and yet, success came not just from crossing the finish line, but from completing the course amidst this inspiring sea of people. We could all triumph together rather than at the expense of one another. I learned that day that not all barriers are equal. There are true barriers put before us that block what we can achieve, and then there are those barriers that we ourselves erect. Life, as in marathon training, rarely goes exactly the way you plan. The key is to learn to navigate the bumps in the road…deciding which to take a stand on, and which to step around. Anything becomes possible. Ours is a marathon of intention.
Steven Lowenstein is an author and Rabbi of Congregation Am Shalom in Glencoe, IL www.amshalom.com
