Never take the ability to climb a flight of stairs for granted.

Here in the later months of my current pregnancy, I�ve noticed that this seemingly small accomplishment has become quite difficult. By the time I get near the top, I�m breathing heavily, feeling the intense need to rub my ankles and wishing I had a giant glass of ice-cold water waiting for me at the top.

In other words, exactly how I felt after running a marathon seven years ago. Before pregnancy, I�d have thought a flight of stairs and a marathon had very little in common. I was wrong. Now that I�ve seen the error of my ways, I can also see lots of things in life I used to see as �flights of stairs� instead should be looked upon as �marathons.�

For example � launching a new product.

If you�ve ever been through this process, you start out thinking, �Hey � I can see the top from here, how hard can it be to get there?� Idea. Research. Decision. Collaboration. Promotion. Distribution. Of course it�s more complicated than that, but is it, say, as complicated as NASA launching a Space Shuttle? Some would have you believe so. But usually, it�s more like the introduction of a simple, new breath mint.

It should be easier. It shouldn�t take years. But so many people think that a colored stripe on a package is as important as an O-ring. Until I couldn�t climb stairs anymore, I wished they�d put things in perspective. Now I get it. That product is the closest thing some people have to a baby growing inside them. Each action has to be considered. Reconsidered. They�re only doing what�s best for their baby.

I also have friends who think getting ready to go somewhere is a marathon.

They start preparations approximately two hours early. Usually with a shower. That is the only part of the process that I�m thankful they pay close attention to. After that, it�s a sea of �negotiables� to me, which I typically blow off.

But when I dropped my son off at day care last week, a six-year-old girl said to me, �You forgot to blow-dry your hair,� closely followed by, �Why are you wearing bowling shoes today?� She reminded me that I should at least treat my fashion sense, and my cosmetics, as I would a 5K. It doesn�t have to be a marathon, but a little training couldn�t hurt. Besides, I�m terrible at sprinting. Thus the wet hair. Thus the chapped lips. My husband looks adorable with bed-head. I, on the other hand, scare six-year-olds. Time for a new perspective on my morning routine.

There are also meetings and social events I used to wish were flights of stairs.

At my company, we�ve tried many, many tactics to solve the problem of excessive meetings. Once, a 45-minute edict came down from management. All meetings to last only 45 minutes. Wow! That extra 15 minutes of my hours seemed like such a gift at the time. It lasted two weeks.

There was also the �no meetings on Fridays� idea. That lasted one day. Yep. It was the Friday after Thanksgiving, and I could hardly believe we didn�t have any meetings. Of course, we were closed, but that hasn�t stopped us before.

So, where I used to have the desire to race through meetings, wrap them up and move on, I now know better. Just like in marathons, you have the injured folks. They have leg cramps, blisters or dehydration. In meetings, you also have the injured. Those who can�t go back to their departments without answers, lest they be stoned. Those whose lack of risk-taking ability means that every detail, every nook and cranny must be cleaned.

They deserve the medical attention they need, and I guess sometimes you can�t do that in 45 minutes.

As for the social events, I used to only attend those that felt great. That were casual. Where people didn�t care if you had an extra glass of wine, or that you spilled it on their carpet while falling down their stairs. Don�t get me wrong. Those kinds of gatherings are still my preference, especially on a Saturday night (when I�m not pregnant).

But I�ve also learned that there is an orchestral beauty to things like the company Christmas party. Or a non-profit fundraiser. That it�s fun to slow down, and just like I enjoyed the sights of Chicago�s Chinatown during the marathon, it�s rather nice to watch people be on their best behavior. To check out what their husbands and wives look like, and imagine them in slippers, watching a movie after tucking the kids in. 

I guess the very best marathon of all was not the one I ran. It was the one that ended in the birth of my first son. It lasted 17 hours, and I can�t wait to run it again.  

But first, I have a little while longer to appreciate how hard it is just to get to the top of the stairs. 

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