Somehow I thought it would last longer.

For a moment, I stood. The sounds around me died down and the crowd that was there began to disperse. It wasn't the easy or graceful or glamorous undertaking I thought it would be. To be entirely truthful, it was painful.

Sometimes very painful.

It was a lot of work and sweat and long hours to just get ready. That would translate into a lot of work and sweat and stress and abuse.

Would I have endured more? Sure.

Could I? Ah . . . therein lies the true question. Retrospect always tells us that we could have handled more than the moment -- those few frenzied flashes of time that enveloped us -- told us we could.