I don’t know about you, but life has been heavy and hard lately. Between the events happening in our country and this terrible, cold weather, it’s been hard to keep going and find joy when there is so much sorrow out there. I’ve been pondering about what I could write this month that would do any good.

Yes, I could add my voice to complain about the injustices taking place in our country. I am so saddened that Americans would treat fellow human beings with such indignity and indifference. I have said it before: this is not the country that I grew up in and that I love. I feel like a foreigner in my own land.

But I want to do something different. I want to offer some optimism to so many of us that are discouraged and disheartened. This is not the final chapter for our great country. There is still hope.

Let me start with sharing a powerful quote by Jeffery R. Holland: “Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead. You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.” Repeat those words to yourself when you feel hopeless and keep putting one foot in front of the other.

In many ways, our lives are like a long race that we have to keep stumbling along until we reach the finish line. I was never a runner, but I do like to walk and hike. When I worked as a camp counselor, I took my campers on many hikes. Many of them did not look forward to that event in their week at camp, but I tried to make it enjoyable for them by identifying flowers and rocks along the trail and letting them know that the lake we were hiking to was going to be great.

Sometimes walking or running along our path in life is really hard, like it is right now. Just putting one foot in front of the other is a huge undertaking. I have learned of some runners who didn’t think that they could make it to the end, but they persevered to finish their races and their stories inspire me to keep going when I have had hard trials in my life.

In 2018 100-year-old Orville Rogers competed in the 1,500-meter event at the USA Seniors Masters Track and Field National Championship. When the last runner besides Orville finished, Orville still had two and a half laps to go. Nearly 3,000 spectators sat quietly watching him slowly make his way around the track. When he began his final lap, the crowd rose to their feet, cheering and applauding.

This was Orville’s fifth race of the competition, and in each of the other events, he also took last place. Even though he always finished last, Orville broke five world records that day. He didn’t break records for coming in last; he broke records for being a 100-year-old competing in these events and for finishing each event that he started.

John Stephen Akhwari, representing Tanzania, competed in the Marathon in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. He cramped up due to the high altitude of the city. Halfway through the race, he fell and wounded his shoulder and dislocated his knee, but he kept running and finally finished the marathon….coming in last place among 57 competitors. There was only a small crowd left in the stands when he crossed the finish line. When interviewed later and asked why he had continued running, he said, “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race; they sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.”

That quote has motivated me during difficult times to keep going and not give up. When we show that we can be steadfast, even in the face of opposition, that is when we learn grit and courage.

I saw this in my oldest daughter when her elementary in Alaska had a Field Day. There were many events that they could enter and she chose the mile run. She was only in kindergarten, so I asked her why she selected such a difficult race. She answered, “Because it’s the biggest one, Mom!” She prepared by running around the school during recess and PE, but when the day of the arrived, she was surprised just how long mile truly was. We arrived when her race was already in process because the schedule hadn’t been published.

We approached the track as she was completing her last lap and the other runners had finished long ago. She had tears streaming down her face as she ran alone and it was all I could do to keep myself from grabbing her from the track. When she finished and tumbled into my arms, she was angry and embarrassed. It was hard for her to understand that she had achieved something great, because she had come in dead last.

Unfortunately, there were some people nearby who were smirking and laughing. I let her know how very proud of her I was. She had done something incredibly hard and she didn’t give up. Finishing that race was probably one of the most difficult things she had done in her six years of life. She is now working on completing her coursework to finish her Bachelors degree in college. It’s taken almost 10 years, but she is finishing this race as well…..knowing that finishing something is just as important as starting it.

My dear readers: hang in there during these difficult times. This race that we call life is long and hard. We stumble and fall. We encounter unexpected roadblocks. But we get back up, brush ourselves off, and we keep going. Lean on those around you. Notice those that are struggling and help them along. Don’t you quit.