"But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved."
So persevere. It's a matter of identity. We are the kind of people who believe and are saved. Just like runners first have to think of themselves as runners before completing a marathon, or an artist must call herself an artist before completing a masterpiece. We are perseverers. Holding out and fighting through is what we do.
I don't know about runners, but as for artists...
ReplyDeleteThe most authentic of them all don't need a title or a license for themselves to create. The truest creators don't even think about it, it's just what they have to do. I'm not so authentic myself, but I do have the pleasure of knowing a few such souls!
Fair enough, a title doesn't make a person who she is. But knowing one's own identity is powerful. In the middle of a race, I can slow down, huffing and puffing, and say, "it's okay to quit here, I'm not really a runner anyway. I can go no further." When faced with the same point in the race, a person with no physiological deviance from myself might say to herself, "I am runner. And runners finish." I am not talking about license, but a source of motivation.
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