Writing Prompt #8: Endurance

Tanner's prompt for yesterday was Endurance, so naturally I'm writing this today, because I did not endure and get it actually written yesterday.

Endurance is one of those words that I feel like I know the definition for, but if you ask me to define it, I'll say something really vague like "it's when you endure..." So, I decided to look it up. Here's the dictionary.com definition:

1. the fact or power of enduring or bearing pain, hardships, etc.
2. the ability or strength to continue or last, especially despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions; stamina.
3. lasting quality; duration.
4. something endured, as a hardship; trial.

It appears to me that endurance and hardship are, by necessity, connected. You can't have endurance without hardship. This makes sense to me, as I was (and may yet be again) an "endurance runner" - AKA a long distance runner. Let me tell you, I loved running, but you don't become a distance runner without hardship. You have to fight your way to distance running. You have to want it. You have to work through pain and exhaustion. You can't become a distance runner any other way.

Sometimes, the hardest part of being a runner is knowing when to stop running - when endurance is not actually what you need, but rest. I loved running so much in high school that it once took six months of constant pain from what ended up being four different injuries to convince me to take a break. After all, what are some of the usual sports mantras? "Don't give up." "Keep going." "You can do it." "Dig deep."

In reality, though, me finally taking a break was me enduring. I wouldn't have been able to endure without taking a break. And once I did, I was able to heal and become a better runner.

Sometimes, God calls us to keep running. Sometimes, he calls us to rest. Both of those qualify as endurance, as long as we don't give up.

That seems like an excellent place to end; however, I can't resist telling my favorite story about endurance from my track & field days. My teammate Sammi was just not feeling a race one day. She told me she was convinced she couldn't win; she was running for second, and she didn't seem to have high hopes. When the race started, there was a bit of a collision, and her shoe came off. Instead of giving up - which would have been so easy! - she endured, and she won. With only one shoe. It was amazing and I will be amazed by it forever and ever.

Stay tuned for May 22nd: Fear.