Day #30: The Finish Line and Afrobloggers

“For wherever your treasure is, that is where your heart will be too.”

Matthew 6:21 and Luke 12:34

[I wanted to use a picture of Eliud Kipchoge setting the marathon world record in Berlin but I couldn’t find one that was clear and free to use. I’d have to fork out at least USD 100 to get a good image. So I went to his Twitter page and scrolled through his posts and media. I thought about tweeting him to allow me to use this image but I hesitated. So I downloaded it without permission. Guilty as charged. I hope I won’t be in any trouble for it. I guess I won’t.]

Eliud Kipchoge. That’s the guy I thought about at the beginning of this writing challenge. He stayed stuck in my head every day of this challenge. He was like this genie in my brain. I’d picture him taking strides on the marathon track.

When we see him setting the marathon world record, we never really know how daunting it is on that track. We don’t know how much pain his muscles withstand during those 42 Km. We don’t know what goes on in his mind when his legs are screaming, enough of this already, his lungs are saying, we can’t do this anymore, and his heart is telling him, Boss, I can’t pump blood any further. We celebrate his achievement from our screens, marvelling at how he’s able to run a marathon in 2:01:39.

He takes it step by step, keeps running to the next kilometre and rehydrates throughout the race. He keeps his pace and has his mind on the end goal, to cross the finish line as a champion.

When he’s preparing for a race, he runs with his training partners. He encourages his teammates. He lives with them and speaks to them. He spends time cleaning up the training base with them. He has breakfast with them, encourages them and lifts them up. He knows that although he has to run his own race when the horn is blown at the starting line, he has it in him to build a community of runners who’ve got to keep going even when he isn’t there.

Eliud was a big part of my muse during this challenge.

Those daily writing prompts were like the next kilometre I had to run, the next milestone to achieve. When I’d run out of ideas and stared at that empty Word document for hours, I’d think about Eliud. What would he do? I’d think about the kind of stuff he’d say to his body when weakness was setting in. He’d stay focussed and run until the end of the race.

As the curtains close in on this writing challenge, I now understand better what success means. Success is the summation of many small wins. The goal of this blogging challenge was to write 30 blog posts in 30 days. And each story I posted per day was a small win. It started with one story, then we got to 10, 15, 20 and we’re at 30 today. Success is not an event. It isn’t an occurrence. It isn’t an overnight achievement. Success is a result of consistency. It is an outcome of keeping your head up and taking those steps even when your body doesn’t feel like doing it anymore.

I’m not going to look at my life the same way after this blogging challenge. This started as a writing commitment but the significance of what it has done in my life exceeds the words I’ve left on this blog. I have a reinforced understanding of what consistency can do when one is driving towards a specific goal. Beginning with the end in mind and being steadfast can make you achieve what you probably didn’t think you would achieve. Taking part in this challenge has been one of the best things I’ve thrown myself at this year.

Thank you, Afrobloggers, for the idea of this writing challenge.