Ahead of me, the colonel continued his merciless pace.  I was running with my head down, unable to concentrate, unable to notice anything that was around me.  After a mile and a half or so, I noticed I was running next to one of the best guys I’ve ever known.

My response to this was, of course, to start complaining.  As I gasped for breath, I said things like, “killer pace,” and, “I can’t breathe.”  Finally summing up my situation by saying, “I don’t think I’m going to make it.  I suck at running.  I’m never going to be as fast as other people.  I can’t do this.”

Now my unit had around a hundred people in it.  The battalion had around 400 people. This was a brigade run.  I don’t know how many people were running together at the start but it was a lot.

“Look behind you, Matt.”  That was all he said.

When running with your unit, you basically see the back of the man in front of you.  If someone falls out, you move up to the person that was in front of him.  I saw before me two rows of people, about eight to ten guys.  The colonel was gasping for air, sweat pouring off of him.

When I looked behind, I saw no one.

“Don’t quit,” he said.

Anybody struggling with addiction?  Is there anybody whose marriage seems to get no better?  Is there anyone who thinks they will never be a good christian, a good father or mother, a decent human being?

You may think you’re not going to make it.  You may think that everyone is doing better than you.

Just don’t quit.  You’re doing just fine.