A friend of mine achieved an extraordinary accomplishment. He started walking (yes, I said walking) this time last year and he finished running (yep, I said running) a 10 miler yesterday. There were no tricks or slight of hand, no gimmicks or magic pills - just the determination to do something that is really quite simple: live a healthier life style. He decided to get up off the couch and move one day last year, and less than 24 hours ago ran 10 miles in the rain with 1000s of other people. They were all running for different reasons, each one a mystery to the person they were standing next to (except for a few tell tale t-shirts) all with the same goal - to cross the finish line 'Truth is, wearing a number or not, we are all running a race of some kind.
Here's the thing: The good, the bad and the ugly of it is that we will all make it to "a" finish line. Its just that some of us are successful in races we were never meant to run. We put on our running shoes and charge across the finish line to become excellent smokers, champion drinkers, perfect liars, unbeatable cheaters, unmatched sell-outs, first class avoiders, legendary self-haters, and awesome
couch potatos just to name a few. Those races are easy to find because the starting points are usually illuminated and flashy. When we show up we are among throngs of people, some lumbering forward and some on fire and determined to finish no matter the cost to themselves or others. Some run pushing strollers, dragging spouses, and pulling well meaning friends and family. They run hard, oblivious to the barricades in the path and ignoring the Stop, Do Not Enter, Caution and Danger signs that are placed along the way.
On the contrary, when we join our true races, the ones we were born to run, the crowds are thinner. Most of the time the roads are unpaved and we have to clear the brush ourselves. It is not always easy to find the starting point so many give up, attracted to the fanfare and crowds at the flashier, illuminated signs figuring one finish line is as good as another. Runners in races that are meant for us are pensive, but hopeful. Some run with family in tow, but most run alone. It is a physical, very personal run with long stretches where you don't see anyone else. There aren't always people along the trail clapping or shouting encouragement, but the ones that do come out are earnest and faithful. The routes veer in directions and to elevations or depths that we were not expecting. but we are confident that each step moves us closer to the goal no matter how ungraceful the gait. We grow tired, we run hurt, but we persevere because we know that the race is not won at the finish line but in each step that gets us there.
Here's the thing: The good, the bad and the ugly of it is that we will all make it to "a" finish line. Its just that some of us are successful in races we were never meant to run. We put on our running shoes and charge across the finish line to become excellent smokers, champion drinkers, perfect liars, unbeatable cheaters, unmatched sell-outs, first class avoiders, legendary self-haters, and awesome
On the contrary, when we join our true races, the ones we were born to run, the crowds are thinner. Most of the time the roads are unpaved and we have to clear the brush ourselves. It is not always easy to find the starting point so many give up, attracted to the fanfare and crowds at the flashier, illuminated signs figuring one finish line is as good as another. Runners in races that are meant for us are pensive, but hopeful. Some run with family in tow, but most run alone. It is a physical, very personal run with long stretches where you don't see anyone else. There aren't always people along the trail clapping or shouting encouragement, but the ones that do come out are earnest and faithful. The routes veer in directions and to elevations or depths that we were not expecting. but we are confident that each step moves us closer to the goal no matter how ungraceful the gait. We grow tired, we run hurt, but we persevere because we know that the race is not won at the finish line but in each step that gets us there.
....I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith....
Congratulations Running Man and to all the others running good races everywhere.
Don't give up!
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