Life is a marathon not a race

Whoaa March flew by!!! I have been away several weekends so I feel a little disconnected from the house this month. I was at the beach for two weekends and in California running my first 10 K race! I have just began to develop an appreciation for running. I was nervous for the race at first but then I realized that I was only racing against myself. I did very little training for it beforehand so it was a way of finding my base fitness level. I liked how I was able to challenge myself but did not have to worry about what other people were doing. The race had people of all ages and I was at the same level as many people who were years younger and years older than myself. Without sounding completely cliche and corny I think there are many connections to be made with life itself. I have found myself being stressed about what I am doing now that I am out of college and what I "should" be doing. I think I am stressed because I compare myself to people around me and think, I should be applying to grad school or I should be volunteering or traveling more etc... Just like in a race, when you start to look around at what people around you are doing, you lose focus on your own breathing, pace and comfort level. This is when you start to breakdown and lose your own rhythm. I enjoyed the race so much because I ignored the people who were passing me and I didn't look back to see who I was ahead of. Instead I focused on keeping my own pace steady and pushing myself when I got tired. I ended up performing much better than I had expected and I even had fun. The same is true in life. There will always be people that look like they are passing you by and accomplishing more than you. There will also be people that look like they are behind you. The bottom line is you have no idea where they started from and ultimately it doesn't matter. What is important is that you focus on your own rhythm and make sure you are living up to your own potential. I hope to start training for the half marathon for next year...