Aroo! Aroo! Aroo!
Running in place, not quite sure how to mentally prepare, I awaited my turn. The crowd was cheering as the MC shouted.
“What is your profession?”
“I am a Spartan!” I chanted with my fellow racers.
The mantra of the race was supposed to motivate us for what was to come. A burst of energy soared through me as I sprang forward with a giant leap. Thunk! I had literally hit my first wall. It was taller than it appeared. I grasped tightly to the edge, flailing, and swinging. Alas, as my fingers began to slip, I tumbled miserably to the ground. Defeat was forthcoming. It wasn’t even the first obstacle of the race. A wall meant to build my stamina, increase my momentum, a test of my strength and will, instead …show more content…
One mile left to go and by then I had lost count how many obstacles were left. The pain endured was more than I could have imagined. All feeling was lost, my mind raced as fast my heart, how much more could my body take before collapsing from exhaustion, overheating and thirst. It was an out of body experience, like a dream I couldn’t wake from. What kind of person signs up for this kind of torture? What point was I trying to prove, I thought as I came up to the last few obstacles. The hopes and aspirations I had easily given up when I was young, naïve, arrogant enough to think I didn’t have to work hard for my accomplishments came to mind. It was not because of failure that led me to stop believing in myself. It was giving up after not being able to live up to the pressures and expectations of me to succeed right out of high school. It was not caring about my education for a while because I thought a social life was more important than studying. I was there because I figured out the difference between failing and giving up. Giving up was what I had done when I believed I wasn’t cut out for the mission before realizing I was on the wrong path to begin with. Failing came from setting a goal and committing to seeing it through to the end only to find that it wasn’t where I was meant to be. It was working 2 jobs to make next month’s rent but getting fired from one because I didn’t stand up for myself and