Modern-day Sisyphus

My husband recently explained to me that I am like Sisyphus (the king in Greek Mythology that was cursed to push a huge boulder up a hill . . . for eternity!).  I didn't know who that was at the time, but he soon expounded.  And then he told me his interpretation of it: You might not get the boulder over the hill, but you are always made stronger in the attempt each time you push it UP the hill."

I have pushed many boulders up hills for very long periods of time.  I have gotten to the crest of the hill, where I thought I could see the sun rising on the other side and could FEEL the much-needed rest that lay ahead, and then I have watched in disbelief as the boulder slipped from my grasp and rolled right back down the hill again.  And each time I determine that I am GOING to push that stupid rock up the hill and GET TO THE OTHER SIDE if it KILLS me.  And sometimes I think it might.

But in one thing my husband is correct: I am determined to a fault.  I never give up.  I tire momentarily of trying but ultimately get right back to it.  At times, I feel the weight of the rock throw me to the ground, even as I watch it roll back down the hill, powerless to change it; and at times I am oblivious to it's weight because my resolve outweighs it 10 to one.

And that's life, right?  I remember hearing a story in church once about someone who was asked to do something but thought they were being asked to do something else.  In the end, they feel like a failure because they never accomplished what THEY set out to do.  But God corrects them and tells them He didn't tell them to do what THEY set out to do -- He told them to do what He set them out to do. 

So the whole time they were thinking they were failing, they were really succeeding . . . . and getting stronger every second.