Warren’s comment is so good, it needs to be reprinted in its entirety:
We’re creatures of comfort. We usually enter into activities with a reasonable expectation of completion, and put in a reasonable, safe level of effort. Not that we don’t work hard in our relationships, our work, and mowing the lawn; it’s just that if we don’t do everything we feel we could, we have some confidence that amends can be made, tomorrow.
Some people walk up and run a marathon with the calm knowledge that their existing athleticism will carry them through to the end. For them, there’s no life-changing moment. They never doubted, they put in a reasonable effort, they accomplished.
Some people, though, never really know for sure if they can complete a marathon, until they do so. Some sign up at the last minute, and limp across the finish line, but again, their lives don’t change. Many, though, approach the very real possibility of failure by putting extraordinary effort into training. For these people, I will believe that they may experience a life change. While, symbolically, this comes at the finish line, in reality the life change happens somewhere before that.
Good stuff.
