Visual reminder
When you sign up for the ING NYC Marathon they send you a pair of official orange shoelaces. Marlo stole one of them and she uses it as a leash, tying it around the neck of her stuffed puppies and dragging them around the house. I sometimes wear this one around my wrist during particularly difficult times to remind myself that I finished that race last year, that I triumphed over that unbearable pain and crossed the finish line without dying. Is it corny to compare certain grueling events in my life to mile 18? Of course it is. And it works.