“There is no reason to believe that anything should be feared”
That’s how Seneca said it,2000 years before Roosevelt paraphrased him. They’re both right. (FDR said it “…nothing to fear but fear itself”)
There’s a marathon coming up in a couple of weeks. I’m entirely unprepared for it.
I do,however,have a crutch to lean on:experience. I know I can handle the distance and the pace we’re likely to run.
My running partner –whom I promised I would run as wingman to were he ever to step up to a marathon start line –has no such crutch.
Consider:in training his longest runs have all been struggles towards the end,and have left him sore for days. The race is 10km (or more!) longer than his longest training effort. The weather will be warmer on race day;he’ll sweat more. The race is far from his home;he’ll not get to sleep in his own bed before it. The list of little uncertainties goes on and on and on.
Yet he’ll toe that line and,come hell or highwater,he’ll get to that finish line –it’s in his character to acknowledge the fear…and then to stomp on it with a grin.
THAT is why I’ll happily wingman him on the way –I want to be there with a front-row seat to see him stand on that start line and wonder…and then stand on that finish line and KNOW.
