The first step is the hardest

Yesterday (Tuesday) I was unable to go out for my usual run. My current running schedule has me running a slow, easy run with decent miles on Monday, interval workout on Tuesday, rest day on Wednesday; slow, shorter run on Thursday; long run on Friday. That schedule was interrupted by having to switch up our car pool to get the kids to school, and so my Tuesday run was out of the question. Knowing that I wanted to make it up by running on Wednesday, I had all my stuff out this morning to make sure that I got the start that I needed. Alarm clock goes off - check. Get out of bed - check. Success so far! By the time I got the boys out of the house to go to school, however, I was not at all feeling like running. I did not sleep that well last night, and I knew that the BBQ that I had eaten the night before at the Men's group meeting had not settled very well, and I was not feeling up for the prospects of going out and doing intervals.

But I was completely reminded that the first step is usually the hardest one to take. That is the case for so many things in life. Asking my wife out on our first date was much harder than asking her to marry me. Going back to church the very first time after leaving the church was much harder than answering my call to the ministry. In that same way, the first step in running is usually the hardest one to take. Being reminded of that, I finished getting my shoes on and off I went to run a warm up mile, 2 miles of intervals, and then a cool down mile. I did not follow that plan. Instead, I did a warm up mile, 3 miles of intervals, and then a cool down mile. See - the first step was the hardest, and I took that step thinking I was only running 4 miles. But once I got started, I was able to go ahead and do another hard running mile.

If you are reading this and have been thinking about making some sort of change in life, let me reassure you that the first step is the most difficult, but it is one that you can make. You cannot know where that step will take you until you first take it. For me, that first step ultimately took me to running a marathon - something I never thought I would do. Where will that first step take you?