A couple of weeks ago, I met up with friends for brunch at a fun, popular restaurant in Chicago’s South Loop. 20 years ago, grabbing brunch with friends on a Saturday wouldn’t have been out of the ordinary; however, between marriage, friends moving away from Chicago, my living away from Chicago, tight funds, and different life priorities, this was a fun change of pace. The food was yummy and the conversations were engaging.

One piece of wisdom that has stuck with me came from a story told by Yvonne’s husband, John. At one point he trained for and ran in a marathon and when John was grumbling about his speed with a fellow runner, the man chided him and said:

“Son, sometimes it’s good enough to just be in the race.”

I need to keep reminding myself that it is very often ok to just stay in the race. I set a goal for myself that I would take on this year’s A to Z Challenge with both Searching for EMWA and A Home for the Family Tree, which I have done. However, I planned to be disciplined about the whole process and complete it during the 26 designated days in April, as well as do it in a proper A to Z order. Well, life has not been as cooperative as I needed it to be this month to keep my writing on schedule and as of the 18th of April, I’m a little off course and not even half way to the finish line.

However, I’m still in this challenge and I haven’t quit.

And this is one of those times, when that is good enough.