Winning: It’s not always about coming in first place, it’s about finishing what you started.

I was able to experience one of the best moments of my life this past weekend. I was able to compete in a half marathon at Disney World- something I had trained for and thought about for a while. I was extremely excited, although it was not my first ‘race’ I had been in, it was my first half marathon. I knew going into it that with the amount of people that would be there, I was not there to “win” a medal for placement (everyone got a medal anyway because we are all winners!), I was there to complete a goal of mine.

 I have always been the athlete of my family, work-out –a-holic, and living the healthier lifestyle. It is one of the only things I am good at, something I can excel at and watch myself transform. I have went from being 120 pounds in high school, to 160 after having both of my children, back down to 114 pounds and I have been able to watch myself change every single time. It has really put stress on my skin and body, but at the end of the day I know that I am able to finish what I start. While training for the marathon I have grown much more mentally strong- I now have this strength that I can do anything with the right motivation and determination. I am now looking forward to completing a full marathon because of the experience. While running for my half marathon there were moments that brought me to tears, I was actually going to complete 13.1 miles, although I knew I could do it- I was doing it with thousands of other people, I was doing it for time, I was doing it for everything that I had never done it for before. Most of all- I was doing it for me, not to prove to anyone really, I guess part of it was to prove to myself. It was different running by myself and not worrying about the chaos going on around me, but running at Disney was organized yet chaotic. Tears formed because I was proud of the person I was, proud of who I have become. I may not have always made the right choices, but for those couple of hours I felt that I was finally doing something right in my life- I was where God wanted me to be.

Anyone can do whatever they want, they just have to keep going for it- keep reaching.  At the end of the day- it’s not about ‘Winning’ because the true winning part of anything is what you’ve found in yourself and I found me. I’ve been able to see me, know me, and find me through my running. I have won and I am the medal!