If you have ever run a lap race at a track event of any kind, you know the real pain hits you with three laps to go. Every nerve and muscle fiber is screaming at you to stop this torture and rest. It’s tough because your brain keeps reminding you that you need to do this two more times before you hit the final lap. Your chest keeps beating harder than a Cherokee drum. At this point, what keeps you going is just sheer mechanical willpower. All until you get to the final lap…
I’m kind of on a lap race here. And it feels I ran two penultimate laps in the last three weeks. Mentally strained, physically battered, financially exhausted, spiritually lacking... I have dragged my body through its worst trial yet. For the first time ever, I tried to beat an illness with just sheer willpower. The pistons in my brain are probably overworked and worn out but they are still grinding. I have taken too many energy drinks, quite an unhealthy amount. Stoked my body with electrolytes to keep me going. I have probably read more educationally-inclined material in the last few months than I have done in my entire life (and yes, I did five years at a university). I have battered my body into subjection. “Under the sun or in the rain”, as we say in those concentration camps called NYSC orientation camps. Starved it of any form of spirituality. Cut off friends and some family. All because there’s a goal to chase.
Any runner knows the last lap is where extra adrenaline kicks in. Your worn muscle fibers seem to want to obey your command. Your joints no longer seem clogged. Your mind blocks out the pain; from the sores on your feet to your painful, labored breathing. Your reserve fuel kicks in. I once overtook someone to win a race in the last lap. I can tell you that there are fewer highs which can beat that.
So here I am, on my bed, realizing I’m on the final lap. The beginning of the end of the journey. I have managed to shake the illness off (and of course, take drugs in case it’s having any bright idea). I can see the metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel. I have made great friends along the way and formed bonds which should endure for a long while. It has been an experience. So yeah, as I cross the line to begin the final lap, I remember the words of Iron Man himself,
“Part of the journey is the end”
