Marathon... Tuesday?

Well, for all you who aren't Bostonians, the Boston Marathon was yesterday. You can see the Marathon from my window. Oddly enough, as I was cheering from the sidelines, instead of running I started thinking of how a Marathon could also be a metaphor for marriage.

I say a Marathon, instead of a race, because in a marathon, it's not about winning. I suppose, maybe it is for some, but for the majority, running a marathon is about a journey. There is the training, and even the run itself is a personal journey requiring strength of character and the will to keep fighting through any obstacle.

Similarly, and this is the first thing that struck me as metaphorical for a relationship, when running a Marathon (or running at all), it is very easy to start strong. What you could see right outside my door was the tail end of the race, where the runners were being truly tested. But they never gave up, and let nothing get in their way.

In a marriage, the first 6 months to a year are generally what people refer to as the "honeymoon period" (sometimes it's shorter than that, sometimes longer). During that time, it's very easy to have a strong marriage and to think "yeah, this is great. this is gonna be easy." It's kilometer 20, or kilometer 40 where it really matters to stick to your guns and fight through the obstacles.

That's not to say that you can't be having a successful, strong, and amazing marriage throughout your life. But having a successful marriage isn't a moment, it's defined by a lifetime. It's a journey.

It's a journey I can't wait to take :). I've been training for it for the last 3 1/2 years ;).