I am not searching for the right answer or a quick fix but am enjoying the perspective that comes with really listening to understand the views of another person who might have an insight that will enlarge my own thinking. What started as an attempt to use metaphor as a sense-making device has becoming a part-time job or at least the focus of my week. Maybe this COVID 19 crisis will shift me in my profession. Last week I would have told you, as the consulting world has come to a grinding halt, that I was going to support myself by making jewelry made with beach glass and this week I am on the road to becoming a junior journalist.

In my youth there was a journalist who tried on multiple professions and wrote about it. His name was George Plimpton. I loved his series and now think he was on to something. Maybe the last chapter of my career life will be trying on all the many careers that I am curious about when my world fell apart due COVID 19.

As always, I digress. With the completion of each interview I think of another handful of people who are essential with whom to speak. I couldn’t finish my exploration without asking my best friend, fellow Board member, executor of my newly updated will, former client and most athletic person I know, Pete for his response.

He is a cyclist and has cycled many miles each day for most of his adult life. He is lean, muscled, and conscious of his calorie intake and has trained for the marathon, really. Besides being my polar opposite in style, Pete is to be trusted. My mother was grateful that I have Pete as a friend because she said, “If you use Pete as your sounding board for your biggest decisions, you won’t go astray.”

So, I am on pins and needles waiting for Pete to return my call so that I can see if he —from the experience of his trained preparation — can deepen my use of this metaphor to make being in it less threatening and more doable. I have a hunch that he will tell me that it is as much a mental state of being as it is being physically prepared.

When we caught up, Pete said:

“We at (the company) are putting one foot in front of the other each day. We check to see that we are on the right path and keep moving forward. If we get off track then we recalibrate. This is a time when you need to make sure that you have your priorities straight. If it was a real marathon it would be things like nutrition and hydration. For us, this prioritization must be done every day.”

Pete — who says men use fewer words than women and he gives me his excess words each and every day (as I use more than my share) — put the experience in a concise capsule.

“Head down, forward facing, one step at a time, don’t leave anyone behind, do it as a team, check in, do it again tomorrow.”

My internal picture of marathons is overblown and heroic. Pete grounds me in the reality of the grit that is required to go the distance. Since his manufacturing plant has remained open during this entire time, he has needed to balance the weighty decision-making of how to keep his organization healthy and how to keep his workforce healthy. He carries the responsibility very resolutely. There is nothing sexy or fairy tale-like in this virus marathon.

Pete reminds me that there are hundreds of thousands of individuals putting “…one foot in front of the other…” each day to be in service of our larger community. And to keep their families safe. I am humbled by all the efforts and uplifted by the response.

I also know that in the same rising numbers there are people whose jobs have disappeared and whose life is not just one step at a time but one day and dollar at a time.

And those for whom the marathon has taken the ultimate toll.

With each contribution, I am learning that we have the capability collectively to navigate this crisis together. Life is the teacher and does prepare us for the marathon (if we are learning all along the way). I may not finish first but I plan to finish. I plan to encourage everyone along the path. I will stop to help someone else. I will pace myself. I know I will feel pain, share disappointment, and need to adapt. I am putting on my metaphorical running shoes every day to make my way through with thoughtfulness and the wisdom of others. And I know I am lucky to be running.

May you be supported, safe and well, and jogging alongside me into a future of our co-creation.

Leslie

PS. I sought out seven of the many people whose opinions I value and asked them to answer the same question about the marathon we find ourselves in. This is the final blog in this series. I hope you’ve found what these folks had to say to be interesting. And valuable.