By Christy Lee

In 2014, I ran the Layton, Utah Marathon with two of my friends. We had set a bold goal: finish in under 4 hours—a personal record for all three of us.

Race morning came, and it was pouring. But despite the downpour, our spirits were high. We found the woman holding the “4-Hour Pacer” sign and positioned ourselves near her so we could stay on track.

As the race started, the rain began to ease up. We thought, This is a blessing! But we were so wrong. As soon as the rain let up, the mosquitoes came out in full force—not just a few here and there. We’re talking clouds of them. Thankfully, one aid station had bug spray on hand and was generously spritzing anyone who wanted it. We got sprayed, thinking the problem was solved.

Then came the causeway across the Great Salt Lake.

What nobody warned us about was what happens the moment you step onto that long, narrow strip of road. Suddenly, we were swallowed by mosquitoes. And I don’t mean a swarm. I mean a plague. For the next almost five miles, we were running through a thick, black wall of them. We couldn’t talk. We couldn’t fully open our eyes. All we could do was put one foot in front of the other and silently endure.

Usually, we’d talk and cheer each other on, but not this time. We were in survival mode—each of us just praying it would end soon. It was so outrageous that a small part of me wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all... but the rest of me? I wanted to cry. It felt like running through a hard, pelting rainstorm—only instead of water, it was all mosquitoes.

Eventually, we made it off the causeway. There were still mosquitoes, but the worst had passed. We could breathe again... but we didn’t say much. There were no words for what we’d just experienced.

Still, we hadn’t seen the pacer pass us. So we figured we were still on track for our sub-4-hour goal. That hope gave us a boost, and we picked up the pace. As the finish line came into view, I realized I still had a little sprint left in me. I gave it everything I had.

Then, just before I crossed the line, I looked up—and saw the clock.

Four hours and seven minutes.

I couldn’t believe it. After everything—the training, the weather, the mosquito apocalypse—I’d missed our goal by seven minutes. I was crushed. That was my fastest marathon ever, but in that moment, it didn’t feel like enough.

Did the pacer pass us without us noticing in the mosquito madness? Did she give up and bail out altogether? Who knows. All I knew was, I’d run 26.2 grueling miles and felt like I had failed.

On the drive home, though, we started laughing. It was kind of hilarious, in the most ridiculous way. And eventually, we agreed to be proud of ourselves for finishing strong in some of the most brutal race conditions imaginable.

To this day, whenever life gets hard, I’ll say, “At least there were no mosquitoes!” And honestly? It always makes me feel better.

As Trevan and Leslie Householder write in Mindset Mastery,

“The Law of Relativity says that your situation is not fundamentally good nor bad until you compare it to something else.” (p. 11)

What we define as easy or hard, success or failure, joy or sorrow—it’s all relative. It’s our perspective that defines the experience. We get to choose how we think about each moment, and that choice determines how we feel.

So if your health feels discouraging right now, or your goals seem impossibly far away—pause.

It could be worse.

If you can walk across the room, that’s a blessing.
If you can prepare your meals or shop for your own groceries, that puts you ahead of many others.

Notice the health you do have. Notice the things you can do. That shift in focus? It sparks gratitude. And from gratitude, something amazing happens: you start receiving inspired thoughts—tiny impressions about what your next right step might be.

Act on those little nudges. Take one small step at a time. That’s how meaningful, lasting change begins.

Hard things give us strength. They teach us. They shape us.
And they help us recognize the beauty of the moments when life is clear, calm, and mosquito-free.

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