All that exists right now

These cold days and nights remind me of that part of a marathon where the excitement of the start has passed, you feel like you've already run a long way, there's still a long way to go to the finish, there are no supporters along this stretch and you're feeling tired. All you really want is to stop and have a rest now.

Yet the only thing you must do is just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Don't think about how far you still have to go. Just think about getting to that lamppost up ahead. Then when you reach it, see that next lamppost, that's the one you need to get to now.

The focus is on this next mile and on this very next step.

By all means think about what it will be like crossing that finish line, but push all thoughts of how you're going to do it and how hard it's going to be out of your mind.

This mile and this step are all that exists right now.