a marathon, not a sprint

I have to keep reminding myself that reading all these books in the next year is going to happen in exactly that: the next year. Not the next few days.

But as with anything I start, I feel an immense, immediate pressure to do everything now. Thus it was that not 10 pages into The Tipping Point, my first book of the lot, I found myself unable to focus on what I was reading, instead wondering "how many pages do I have left now? Now? Am I going to have enough time to read this? Should I be reading faster?"

Luckily, I was able to focus, finally--mostly by reminding myself of what I'm typing now. This is a marathon, not a sprint. It's like putting my bike in a super low gear to churn out a 20-mile hill, settling in for the long haul. It's like eating healthy--some days, you eat cookies anyway, but hopefully you still make good choices over the long run. It's something that happens over time, not all at once.

Once I decide to do something, I like it to happen now. So in some sense, I think this experiment will be good for me, for reminding me that some things take time, pacing, patience. 100 books will happen. Over time.

That being said, I finished The Tipping Point and am onto Catching Fire, the second of the Hunger Games triology. I read the first book when I was back in Sacramento last time and noticed my brother had it in his room; I couldn't resist putting the second one into my young adult category. Though it might be hard to wait for another year before I read the third one. I may need to read 101 books in the next year:)