We've all had those moments running down a hill. We start out slow and steady, but somehow our legs get ahead of themselves and carry us farther and faster than we originally anticipated. Sometimes we have the strength and ability to continue running with the momentum until we reach the bottom, safe and sound. While other times the speed at which we are running is too much for the rest of our bodies to balance and we fall. We may get a small scrape, or maybe even break a bone. In any case, when someone runs down the hill its something they can't lightly stop.
Now when we run down a hill we have more control over ourselves than probably those watching us. We move our legs, we control our arms, and we are responsible for the outcome. Just as we cannot receive assistance from the outside, when we see someone start their downhill run we too cannot assist. When we see a child start his or her downhill run there isn't much we can do about it. We know we want them to get to the bottom because that is the destination, but we cannot help them get there safely because they've already started.
So it is with out choices. Often when we make a choice that has a big impact on our future it is like starting down the hill. Once we've made that choice going back on it is not an easy thing in most cases, and trying to stop in our downhill run will most likely result in a fall. We have to follow our choice to the end, and whether we trip and fall depends on the choice we made when we started down. We chose the path to take down the hill. We chose where we would end up when you got to the bottom. And even then, when we run so fast down a long hill our directions may unknowingly change and gravity will take us to a different place than we had anticipated, but we must get to the bottom nonetheless.
There will be holes in our hills. On top of our already difficult run there will be objects placed along the way. We may stumble at times, we may even fall, and at that point it is up to us to get up and keep running. Then, when we see those obstacles again on our next downhill run we know how to avoid them, we can identify them, and in the end those obstacles have trained us. Our downhill runs will not be easy, just as a muscle is not strengthened without first feeling the pains of growth. But through that pain, we will grow. We will become better.
There are many people who love us watching us start down the hill. They see the bottom as we do, they know we will get there, but they don't know if we will end up hurting ourselves along the way. They can cheer from the sidelines and encourage us to keep going. Their love and support will often help us to keep going when we feel as though we may not have the energy to finish. And with all their love and support, most often times once we start going they cannot carry us to the end.
On the other side, away from those who truly love us, there will be those that stand and mock as you run. They will tell you to give up, or that you could never have made it in the first place, that you were destined to fall as soon as you began. Those voices will always be there, some of those voices may even come from ourselves. So often our enemies come directly from within us. Our doubts, our fears, and our worries will cause us to second guess ourselves in the most critical moments. Those are the voices most difficult to overcome.
There is a destination and we will make it to that destination. If we get up when we fall, if we run when we are weak, if we stand when we finish we will make it. We can finish strong and understand the purpose of our obstacles. When we look back at that hill the distance will seem small, the potholes funny, and the doubts will fly because we made it to the bottom. That choice that we made will have come to its conclusion and we will stand strong ready to look ahead to the next choice we make, ready to again run downhill.
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