23 Comments
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Pastor Wesley Kennedy Post's avatar

You are a natural writer. I can feel you heart through your words.

Colin Black's avatar

Thank you so much! My whole family likes to write and tell stories so Iโ€™m sure that has helped. Really appreciate the encouragement!

Marco & Lume's avatar

My man, you could be writing for Nike with this absolute banger of an article. Well done! ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘

Colin Black's avatar

Thank you so much! Thatโ€™s one of the nicest compliments Iโ€™ve ever gotten, so I appreciate it a lot!

Inksite's avatar

Thank you for sharing, it reminds me of when I practiced with the Leukemia Foundation for a half marathon at first it was so hard but by the end I could not believe how more at ease I had become with the longer run. At the time my husband, a long distance runner, was in acceptance of his last year of his life & my niece who had Leukemia was fighting for her life. He passed, she survived. Thereโ€™s so much more I can say about your note regarding survival & resilience. Gracias.

Colin Black's avatar

Thank you so much for sharing! That sounds like an awful experience to go through, but I appreciate your willingness to share. Feel free to write me personally if you want to talk about it more.

Itโ€™s amazing how much our attitude affects outcomes. Iโ€™m not always very good at remembering that, so this was kind of reminder to myself.

Inksite's avatar

Thank you so much Colin, but it was not awful, it was a gift of living, loving and dying. My husband gifted me wisdom about death and my niece perseverance, hope and faith. I donโ€™t mind sharing it because itโ€™s an aspect of my life I cherish. Running for Leukemia, hospice for my husband and witnessing survival. Iโ€™m lucky.

Colin Black's avatar

Thatโ€™s a really beautiful perspective! Iโ€™m sure it was tough to go through, but it sounds like youโ€™ve gained a lot of wisdom from it.

Inksite's avatar

Thank you!

michelle ray's avatar

So many great examples and lessons here. I ran a marathon and collapsed as soon as I crossed the finished line, ended up in the hospitalโ€ฆbut I didnโ€™t quit! I have a lot of inherent grit but when it comes to self belief and emotional strength, things get harder.

Colin Black's avatar

Oh man! Glad you ended up ok. Thatโ€™s good you have that internal resilience. Iโ€™ve had more of it at other times in my life. Trying to get more of it back now.

Shilpa Tudekar's avatar

Excellent essay, very true there is nothing like overnight success, it's a result of years of hard work, patience and tenacity that works wonders, thirty years back there was no ready to eat food available, what we ate we cooked from scratch, but the process taught us that even to eat we have to work from procuring ingredients to prepping and finally cooking, patience is the name of the game, never give up,best wishes ๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ‘

Colin Black's avatar

Shilpa, thanks for sharing! Sounds like you had it a lot tougher than I have. But I think youโ€™re right, we all have to go through something to learn more patience! I know Iโ€™m still learning it.

Apurva's avatar

Very uplifting essay and brilliantly written. As someone who has to often remind myself to look for the lessons learnt instead of being bitter and look away. Keep writing and inspiring!

Colin Black's avatar

Thank you, Apurva! Iโ€™m glad you found it encouraging. I also have to remind myself to fight bitterness all the time.

Magdalena Gereva, PhD's avatar

Colin, super interesting read that holds you until the end! Exploring human reactions in extreme situations carries deep potential for storytelling. Thank you! Dreams have no deadline...

Colin Black's avatar

Thanks so much! Sorry I somehow missed your comment earlier!

Magdalena Gereva, PhD's avatar

Will take time for this oneโ€ฆ.

Colin Black's avatar

Thank you so much, @Magdalena Gereva, PhD! I hope you like it!

Jonas Fehn's avatar

"Itโ€™s not a matter of wondering whether the trucks will drive away. Just assume they will."

This is really brutal. I have been training for trail running lately. I don't know how such a distance feels like, I'm not there yet. Still, just reading and imagining that is to hard.

Anyhow, great call for action. Or non-action. I mean, staying the course. Steady. Well done Colin.

Colin Black's avatar

You can do it, Jonas! Iโ€™m not great at running anymore. I lift weights and go on walks but I definitely donโ€™t run like I used to. It was tough but you definitely get used to it! Just start with 3 miles or so and once that feels comfortable work your way up to 5 or 6 and see how you feel.

Jonas Fehn's avatar

In April I finished a race with 35km and around 1500 elevation gain/loss. Took me a little bit more than 5 hours. My main goal for next year is marathon distance and > 2000hm. It may not sound like much of a difference but I keep getting set back with training. But it's fun fighting through nonetheless :-).

Colin Black's avatar

Dude thatโ€™s incredible! You definitely have me beat! Iโ€™ve ever done a marathon or anything like that. Youโ€™ll have to let me know how it goes when you do it!