What happens when you don’t pace yourself while running a marathon?

In response to one of my weekly questions a while back, a reader said: "I try to think about running a marathon instead of a sprint." It's such solid advice for so many of the most significant realms of human life such as intimate relationship, parenting, and work. It's also instructive when used to reflect on our hopes and our heartbreaks. Pacing ourselves is necessary if we want to be in something for the long haul. Our energy is limited and we have to be skillful in deciding where, when, and how to use it.

I need to constantly remind myself of the marathon metaphor as I more powerfully claim my role as a community organizer. It's a challenge to pace myself amidst the urgency and excitement of the moment. Parker Palmer, in his book Healing the Heart of Democracy, taught me one story that never fails to make me pause and take a deep breath in the midst of the hurry. For twenty long years John Woolman "spoke with his fellow Quakers about the heartbreaking contradiction between their faith and their practice" before they became the first religious community in America to free their slaves.