There is this thing that a lot of people do when riding up a hill.
No matter how long or hard or easy it is, when they get near the top, when the top is right there, not even a false summit, but the actual top, there is a tendency to say "I made it" and to back off, to stop putting in the effort. And why not, clearly the top is right there.
But when the top is "right there" then clearly you are not yet there. Just because it is right in front of you, just because it is right there, doesn't mean you're finished. "There" is not "here."
You're not actually done until you are rolling down the other side, coasting. Only then have you made it to the top.
It takes a lot of discipline to keep pedaling through the crest, over the top, and to to keep going.
Rather than backing off, saying "I made it" when in fact, you are not there yet...
And now, in this world we now live in, every time I come upon the crest of a hill, I think about all of the ways folks are backing off of defeating this virus. "We're there" so stop wearing masks. "We're there" so hanging out with strangers in unventilated areas is ok. All sorts of ways to say "We made it" when in fact, we are not there yet. And we need to hang on until the actual end. Until we are truly headed on the downhill side of the curve. New infections, death rates, all of it.
We're making progress, but we're not there yet. Keep pedaling.
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