Driving through town before dawn this morning I noticed something. The nicely paved, off-street trail that had swelled with runners in the last few weeks had just a handful today. What happened?

The 13.1 sticker.

What the stickers represents anyhow. 13.1 is the distance in miles of a half-marathon and 26.2, the mileage of a marathon. Our local marathon and half-marathon were this past Sunday. Of the 12,000 amazing runners in our event there are three types.

First, those who don’t train much. They’re out to enjoy themselves or check something off their bucket list. They swelled the trails for the last week or so.

Next, those who trained diligently for the race, but, sadly, may not keep up that newly acquired discipline afterwards. They’ve swelled the trails for a few months.

Finally, those for whom running is a lifestyle. They run races as a target to train for or as a reward for all the training. They’re always on the trails.

All three groups ran the race. All three have the right to put the 13.1 or 26.2 sticker on the car. They earned it.

But shouldn’t life be about more than a sticker?

For many it is. Yet, for some of us, we bounce through life collecting stickers and ticking of bucket list items—which are fine—but we could be doing life a little differently. We could be becoming more.

Rarely is one event transformative. It’s the new discipline leading to or resulting from the event that is truly transformative. The next right step becomes the new discipline becomes the life-changing habit. That's where transformation takes place.

Life is about more than a sticker. Put in the work day-in-day-out for weeks and months and years. That’s the way of true change.

“He who neglects discipline despises himself, but he who listens to reproof acquires understanding.”

— Proverbs 15:32

Thanks for reading, dear friend. I'll be getting back into the weekly slice of life writing habit. I hope you'll join me, comment, share and subscribe.