The Courage to Begin

I know it's been a long time since I've blogged. A lot has happened in the past week and a half, both good and bad in the health zone. Maybe I'll go back and write about it, but today I have something specific I'm thinking about.

John is starting to train for his first marathon. This is a stepping stone for his ultimate goal: an Ironman. I'll never do an Ironman, but it would maybe be fun to do a short triathlon with him some day. So, I was randomly looking up triathlon gear, and there's a lot of fun tee-shirts for tri-athletes. But one I particularly like. Here it is:

This is how I feel. I am no where close to my goal yet. I mean, 30 pounds is a lot (and by the way that's officially how much I've lost as of yesterday!), but I still have 70 to lose. But even though I'm not a slim and athletic 140 pounds yet, even though I haven't crossed the "finish line" yet, that is not where the victory will be.
The victory, the miracle, happened when I decided to change my life. When I decided to buy tennis shoes and wear them out. When I stepped into the gym that first day and knew it was going to become my second home. How many people will not make that decision because they think the victory is too far down the road? Too hard to make it? Will you be one of those people? The victory happens when you decide to change. That is the hardest hurdle, the one that will beat you down and not even let you get started.

So I declare today, The miracle isn't that I will finish. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.

When was your miracle? 
When will you summon the courage to start?