Living Relay Race

I often feel like I’m running a relay race. Always tense, on edge, and looking eagerly- almost fearfully behind me. Most of the time, I’m tense for nothing. The racer behind me fell at the beginning and is not getting up, but I don’t know that, so I wait, anxiously, and watch the others go.

When it turns out my preceding runner is fine, however, I nearly always forget they are approaching. They hand me the baton, and it is a foreign object with which I have no idea what to do. Sometimes the baton is so hot it burns my hands. Sometimes it is so heavy I can’t run at all.

Either way, I’m no good at running…