This is a part of the series of posts that tie back to the 11 Life Lessons I Learned From Running.

Running was horrible when I started. It was only a short distance until I was winded and had to slow down. My legs burned on the hills and I couldn’t get a deep enough breath. Plus it was cold out there! 45 minutes later, I was back home with 4 miles behind me.

About a week later, I finally managed to conquer my running arch-nemesis, the long hill in the middle of the run. Conquer it I did, and after running the whole thing without a walk break I victoriously stopped at the top, gasping to catch my breath. Another couple of weeks, and I was finally able to run the entire distance (on a treadmill) without walking at all.

Just like running, life is also a work in progress. It takes time to acquire the necessary knowledge and to build up the required skills. Just because something is hard when you first start, doesn’t mean you should use that as an excuse to quit. It will get easier; you will get better. It won’t be long before you look back and will be surprised how far you’ve come, how easily you can do that which seemed impossible so recently.

Yes, it’s hard, but that makes you appreciate your victories all the more.