Reaching Conclusions

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We can jump to conclusions. We can come to a conclusion. We can rush to conclusions. But mostly, I am just glad when some things are over. It usually means the beginning of something new, and that’s not always a bad thing. And especially if you are the ending of something grand, it’s a great time to look back and think about the journey.

Hopefully our education never ends, but there is day when our schooling ends. We really don’t want life to end, but that’s usually how it ends up. Especially when we are in the middle of something painful, it’s good to reach the end.

We all yearn to be done with our schooling. All through the years of seat work, worksheets and examinations, we want it all to be done. Some people never darken the halls of education again, and there are those who can’t stop getting more and more. Is there ever an end to it all? Strangely, when it is over, we glowingly remember “school days”, the good old golden rule days, and some people never stop living in that particular part of their past. But whatever your view of education and those halcyon days, I hope you aren’t done learning. I count it a great day when I have learned something new, and especially good if I have been able to unlearn something that wasn’t true. I sometimes complain that my brain is full, but all of the wonderful trivial facts floating around in my head make me happy.

I’ve tried to tell my students they may want to take better care of themselves, since our life expectancy keeps increasing. When you can grow a replacement ear on the back of a mouse, which scientists have done, how far away are replacement parts for any of yours which fail? But if you have seen the movie “Death Becomes Her”, I really don’t think I want to live in a future of Bondo, which is usually used on cars. Especially tragic is a young death, but we somehow do find some way to go on with our own lives. I admire so much those who have lost children and how they continue in what must be a terrible pain. Parents shouldn’t bury their children, but it does happen far too often.

But most conclusions seem to happen as T.S. Eliot put it. “This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but with a whimper.” I guess I can admit it. My conclusion to my last St. George Marathon truly ended with a whimper-like moan. After struggling through the first 20 miles of the 26.2 mile race, my knees decided they had had enough, and the heat approached 90 degrees. I had to walk through most of the rest of the race. Most runners know enough to listen to their bodies, and when the body protests too much, it’s time to slow down. I have also had heat stroke before, and no one should have to go through that. I was determined to struggle to the end, and that’s what I did. It wasn’t pretty, but I finished.

It was my fourth marathon and my slowest ever, but then again I am older than I ever has been. Besides being no spring chicken, I am also much bigger than most of the runners in the race. There is what is called a “Clydesdale” division, but I don’t weigh enough to enter it. I really only have to gain a few pounds, like ten or fifteen, but then that kind of defeats the purpose of trying to get in shape.

I’ll walk funny for a few days, but my fourth marathon is another accomplishment I will always be proud of, no matter how long it took. Some of the people in the race were in their eighties, and I wouldn’t mind being able to still run marathons when I get that old. I would hope I was in better shape than now, but with the amount of Pepsi I drink, I think I won’t be running that long. Or if I do keep running, the races will take even longer.

Maybe I could take up biking. But really, I’m ready for another goal. The conclusion to this race means I can move on to something different. I don’t know what it will be, but I do have a feeling it will be some kind of public performance. But maybe with less stress and something that can be accomplished in fewer than seven hours.

But then that might be jumping to a conclusion, and the hasty decisions we make we usually regret. Give me a few days so I can stop walking funny, and after a bunch of Ibuprofen, things may look better. But right now, I’m just glad to be at the conclusion of another episode. Stay tuned.