Ever been lost.        .       .

Ever feel like the  FINISH  LINE   is never in view

.          .        .that it doesn’t exist

.          .        .that it’s a myth

.          .        .that it’s an illusion

.          .        .that it’s really just an never-ending STARTING LINE

It was an absolute risk

for sure to be a new minister

and go out and run a race before

Sunday Morning services

but I lied to myself

in a most horrible way

and was convinced I could be back easily before

the first hymn.        .        .

I felt that all the way up until

a group of 40-50 of us

followed the wrong leader

and ended up at a secluded dead end path

a good two miles off the path of a 10K (6.2 mile) race

and then all of a sudden my heart began beating a different pace.        .        .

forget about winning the race

forget about placing first in my age group

forget about finishing ahead of the fastest group of women

forget about finishing

I just wanted to get back to my car

go back the 45 minutes to church

throw on a shirt, tie, a pair of dress slacks,

DRESS SHOES

and my robe

without as much as a sponge bath

.        .       .this was way before cell phones

and there was no place to put up a smoke signal

or a viable S.   O.  S.

I never made it to the FINISH LINE that day

and barely to Church Services

.          .          .it was not the FINISH LINE I envisioned

but one I continue to  F E A R

I have found myself

on the same kind of path

many different times without ever lacking up a pair of running shoes.       .       .

I really think I’ve cured the curse of

B U R N     O U T

(for me)

it just means NOT taking the logs off the fire

.          .          .but they have to be the   RIGHT  logs

.          .           .I know I can burn the Candle at both ends and in the middle

because (for me) I know where to get

the wax and the wick

E          V          E          R          Y          T          I          M          E :

it’s the endless RACE

the one that has no FINISH LINE

the one that when you get to where

the one that when you get to what

you think the FINISH LINE is

IT       I S N ‘ T

and you just keep going

and going

and going and

 g                              o                               i                              n                              g

You know what I’m talking about:

The day’s over and so are you

but just as you reach the FINISH LINE

and you’re pulling into home

you get a text

pick up this

or get that

and  OFF  you go

PAST      WHAT      YOU      THOUGHT      WAS      A

O            U            C            H

and  your  run  exhaustingly  continues

and you don’t dare stop

because you’re out in the middle of nowhere

and there’s only one way out of

N    O          W    H    E    R    E :

through  it

one foot in front of the other

just not so gingerly

or enthusiastically.          .          .

The Cure?

Don’t just run.        .         .

RUN   SMARTER.          .          .

RUN  WHILE CREATING YOUR OWN

It’s only then

that you not only OUT RUN

Burn Out

but obliterate it

By becoming

YOUR   OWN

Race Director

it’s a cinch you’ll stack the odds in such a way

that you’ll not only set your own personal best record time

not only place or show

but actually win

and not just in your age group

or every once in a while

or by reaching  T H E I R

but seeing in a good way

others will be joining in on your RACE

and winning in their own ways, too.          .          .

R E M E M B E R.       .       .

The       B       O       T       T       O       M       L       I       N      E

is   not   the  FINISH   LINE–

It’s   more   powerful.     .     .

And   here   it     i  s :

THE   FINISH  LINE   IS  WHERE  YOU  SAY  IT  IS.        .        .

the   problem:

You’re    usually    the    last    one    to    KNOW     IT