Mile Markers

I kind of have a thing for numbers. That's not to say I'm a mathematician, not in any sense of the word. I could balance my checking account four times and come up with four different numbers and the other day it took me way too long to add 43 and 88 in my head.

But I like numbers' significance. And when a nice round number marks that significance. For example, last week I reached the halfway point of revising my novel. The chapter ended and I glanced down at the page and, miraculously given my skills, did the math quickly in my head. Fifty percent complete exactly.

One week later, I sign into the blog to update my progress. I have a written copy of the text beside me (so much easier to edit from paper than the screen, I guess I'm old school like that). Wouldn't you know, but I discovered another mile maker. One hundred pages until I'm done. It's so close I can almost feel the calluses on my finger pads.

The point of mile markers according to Wikipedia, "are to provide reference points along the road. This can be used to reassure travelers that the proper path is being followed, and to indicate either distance traveled or the remaining distance to a destination."

To someone else 100 pages left may just be the remaining distance to a destination. That may even be how I saw it before I started writing this. But the value to me now is not just how much is left but rather the realization of how much has come before. My focus has been the end result, the completion. Today, I reflect on the miles that have brought me to this point, the finish line almost visible in the distance.

And I laugh. Because I know once I cross that finish line, I'll turn around. The mile marker will read zero and the countdown will begin again. But I won't discount the miles I have traveled. Those markers are not just measuring how far I've come or how far I have to go. They are there to remind me I am on the right path.