Marathon of life

Life is a marathon, not a sprint.  I have used this statement to describe many aspects of my life as well as E's life.  Many times there seems to be this unfocused rush to be the first.  I understand that there is a benefit to being first.  But first isn't always a good thing.  For instance, the origin of the marathon comes from a Greek story about a herald named Phidippides ran 26 miles from Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek Army's victory and died on the spot.  I'll write that again he died on the spot.  He was the "first" to run a marathon.  

I personally have never run a 26.2 miles nor do I have any intention of doing so.  I have been told that in running a marathon you discover the person you are.  I know the person I am without such a run as every day for E, Sandi and I is a marathon.  While I do admire people who attempt to run and finish, their efforts are limited at most a six hour run on a particular Sunday and the daily training runs leading up to the event.  Our family exerts that effort every day without training, without the benefit of being able to quite and without the benefit of a medal being presented.

Sandi has run marathons.  I have never asked her thoughts about this next assertion, but I am pretty sure that she would agree:  our every day life as more intense, more tiring and requires more effort that any of the marathons she has participated.

I don't begrudge runners or others' athletic endeavors.  They should feel proud of their accomplishments, but understand that such achievements are limited in the reach and effect in the lives' of others.  A marathon runner may inspire others to run, but do they inspire others to live?  Does running give others motivation to become independent?  Does running give others skills to become employed?  Does it give others the ability to learn and communicate?  Obviously, the answers to these questions are NO.

Similarly, I don't begrudge parents with neuro-typical children.  They have their struggles and challenges albeit from a different scale and degree.  They have similar worries, just a difference in the matter of degree.

Parenting is a tough job, regardless of the child.  It is a job that you are not compensated for financially.  The benefit is the result and seeing your child(ren) grow to an independent adult is the compensation.  This compensation is all the more sweeter when you child has special needs.  We celebrate the mundane and ordinary.  We don't celebrate pee-wee football victories.  We celebrate when E has a good day at school.  We don't celebrate being my child being named to an all-star team.  We celebrate when E has gotten dressed by himself before school.  We celebrate things that others may take for granted where no task is too small, no achievement too minuscule.  For us, it is all a matter of perspective.  We celebrate the path our journey takes, but we still keep an eye on the destination.  

If I did do a marathon, first, hell has frozen over, and second, I would live in the moments between the start gun and the finish line (mostly because I would be afforded that opportunity, because I probably would be walking most of it).  It is the moments between start and finish that I would maybe for a split second understand challenges that special needs children face.

The playing field of life is not equal or level.  That is an incontrovertible fact.  However, it is the determination of the participants to live life and equal the field of play through sweat and tears that makes all of the difference in their lives.

Thanks to all who enjoy the journey over the destination.

Thanks for reading; more to come.