I feel like I ran a marathon

I used to think living was going out every weekend and partying hard. When I say hard, I mean every weekend was spent drinking heavy, half naked, and flirting with every cute guy. I was wild and you couldn’t tell me nothing! It was like every night out was an episode of Bad Girls Club or whatever new crazy reality shows there are now. Getting in the club free, getting several free drinks, pregames were the norm. It was all fun being knowingly young and dumb.

Young and dumb seemingly were good excuses for me until around age 30. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks that most of my fun party buddies had moved out of the city to bigger and better things. It was even more interesting that they would encourage me to get out and see what else the world offered. I took them up on that offer. I traveled faithfully, went out of the country, and my eyes were opened to a big beautiful world. I had been missing out for years, but no more.

Recently I made the biggest faith decision I’ve ever made, I moved half way across the country to Los Angeles. The journey itself felt like a marathon. I just watched the movie “Brittany Runs A Marathon” and it was similar to my life. You don’t start off being an expert, but you do have to start. Even if it’s slow, forward movement is the key. I had to build up my stamina and be consistent daily in applying for jobs and looking for housing. Every day progress had to be made. And after a while, I was in the swing on things and ready to take it long distance.

When I say long distance, I mean that literally, as in a 26 hour drive from Memphis to Los Angeles. The first day was exhilarating until about 9 hours in. It’s just like a marathon runner, you push through in the beginning because you’re pumped up. I was making momentum, so I had to refuel and stretch to keep going. After pushing it too far to my halfway point, I crashed at 14 long hours on the road. Oh but it wasn’t over! The next day I wasn’t as psyched, so I only had 10 hours in me and Vegas was calling my name.

After a wonderful night on the old strip in Vegas, I got up on top of the world. Seeing the sign that said welcome to California helped me to see the end was coming soon. It felt good to have reached even that point, so I had to finish strong. When runners get to the home stretch, you can see the accomplishment in their eyes. I had that same sparkle because I made it to the finish line. In my mind, I was a WINNER! The medal I received was a new life journey. It wasn’t the end now that I think about it, it was really just the beginning. I made it!