Life’s not a marathon; it’s a series of sprints!

How many times have I heard that life's a marathon, not a sprint, so you have to pace yourself? It’s ill informed! Do you realise how seriously fast marathon runners go? In my late teens I trained with the Qld Beach Sprint Champion. My race was the mile (1600m). Best time: 4min 55sec. And if I joined the last 400m of the Olympic Marathon that year, I could just keep up with them! I’ve discovered life has to be lived fast if you’re gonna achieve anything, but here’s the trick, you need great rest periods. Don’t pace yourself; that’s for the mediocre! Outstanding achievements require periods of intense activity and stress. That’s sustainable, even healthy, if you’re setting aside appropriate time for recuperation. Here’s what I do.

Set an end to your day! I leave work and go to the gym. It signals two things: my day’s over and sweat glands, you better kick into gear real quick! I don’t take my computer home.

Set an end to your week! Preaching’s a funny life. I’m always pregnant with the next message! But I’ve got to have an end to the week or I don’t switch off. Sunday’s hectic for me, so I take Friday off. A date with Chris. Put on some good music. Potter around the house. A glass of wine for tea is real nice.

Set an end to your year! It’s a pain in the butt, and you can feel like you’re too busy to take the time off, but we’ve made it law in our staff: You have to take your holidays each year, and there better be a compelling reason if you don’t.
Life’s a series of sprints! Run hard! But laugh and play in between all the busyness.