Mahler’s Monday Morning Motivator # 132 – Dead Last
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Mahler’s Monday Morning Motivator # 132 – Dead Last
Dead Last
Did you ever notice that when you turn on TV or look at a newspaper or magazine that there always seems to be something about racing? Oh, not just auto racing like NAASCAR. Everything is characterized as a race; the race for the pennant; the race for the Super Bowl; the race for ratings. Even our process of elections is described as being a race for office.
If you are a sports or fitness enthusiast, you also may follow the news about the local 5k, the various marathons, and countless other races done as fund-raisers, community builders and event promotions.
I got to thinking about races in general and conjured up that perennial picture of the winner, crossing the finish line or breaking through a ribbon to the cheers of the crowd, with the media closing in and trying to get a picture, a word or two, perhaps even a quotable quote.
Then suddenly, my mind, like a cameraman about to lose his job, pans beyond the winner, past the crowd of adoring fans and media and down the track to watch the guy that is bringing up the rear; the guy who no one wants to interview; the guy who is coming in dead last. Unless he is a famous star that suffered an injury or a nobody who has a heart wrenching personal story, that guy is already forgotten.
Yes, already forgotten, but not by the likes of me. I am a sucker for the underdogs of life. Think about it. Is the sweat on his brow any less visible? Is the pain and exhaustion he feels not as real as the guy over there with the cameras and microphones in his face? Is his heart not beating as rapidly? And, I wonder (and this is a real possibility), did he put in any less effort?
The difference between the winner and the man who came in dead last, is often only a matter of seconds, or even fractions of a second. Yet, it is a difference that in the grand scheme of things is as wide a gulf as if it had been days, or months or years. Do you imagine that anyone works or trains or pushes their own limits with the idea that they will not somehow succeed?
Our lives are a complex mix of daily races and even when we don’t cross the finish line first, we have made progress. Of course, there will be no one there to give us a pat on the back, no cheers, no accolades, but we will have made a difference. We all have different aspirations and differing abilities, but it is not our failures, but our attempts that define our character.
I look down the track and see him one last time. In many ways he is my hero taking those final, seemingly useless steps to cross a finish line that, too, seems, meaningless. It is then that I understand that he is not a loser, he is not forgotten, he is not dead last, for behind him I see the ghosts of the countless millions who never tried and who never crossed the finish line at all.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Have a Great Week!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
__________________ In Fitness & Friendship, MAHLER
______________________________ __________________________ There is no light at the end of the tunnel. You carry the light with you.
John this is my favorite MMMM yet! I've been the underdog most of my life (still am most of the time) but that only makes me push harder, and value my own personnal successes. I love rooting for the underdog and celebrating their success.
__________________
"My darling," she said at last, "are you sure you don't mind being a mouse for the rest of your life?"
"I don't mind at all," I said. "It doesn't matter who you are or what you look like so long as somebody loves you."
Thanks, John. I've come to realize in these last few weeks that the only one who can keep me from getting to the finish line first is me. It's my own race, and I can't let me beat me. This MMMM will be my reminder.
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"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."
Finishing is part of the game. Most of us who race in them don't do so to win, but to finish, to do our best and to try and surpass our previous effort.
Great thoughts today.
Og.
__________________ 2009: No races, No times. Slow year. So, now you're 96 cals short. You're now in starvation mode. Doomed. - LostDog
Blog entry: November 1, 2009, Pancakes LiveSTRONG daily plate log
After my near back of the pack finish in another 5k last weekend I can attest to the fact that just getting better is sometimes all you need to keep going.
Thanks for another thought provoking motivator.
Location: Philly on one side, Pittsburgh on another, the Green Between...
Posts: 5,857
One of the things that's good about being a MOP Triathlete is that I get encouragement from those in front of me, and get to encourage those who are behind me. I stick around after I am done and cheer for those who are finishing. I love to watch the first-timers finish--it's incredible to watch their faces.
__________________
"Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right." - Henry Ford
"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." - Dr. Seuss
"Life is no brief candle to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations." - George Bernard Shaw
Very good one today and particularly relevant to me.. Cheers mate
******
FishcutB8 - the video of the guy dancing from your blog is really good; I couldn't help smiling all the way through
__________________
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Walk on
With hope in your heart
And You'll Never Walk Alone
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There's no free lunch, especially when it's served with special sauce (lostdog)
***************************** My Log - PC Plod
I read your motivator every week but I felt compelled to reply to this one. I ran a local 10K race this past weekend with a friend of mine and after about the first mile we realized that the only people behind us were the officers in the police car signaling the end of the pack. However, we kept on pace and finished a full four minutes faster than our last 10k 10 months ago.
Amazing post Mr. Mahler. I'm just about to start lifting again after a forced off week due to an injury. I'm motivated and ready to roll
__________________
"Rust on a nail builds tetanus. Rust on a barbell builds character, strength, and attitude." -EC
"Don't spend your life wishing. Spend it doing." -FishrCutB8
"You're a mutant, like a snake with two heads or a cat shy one nipple. Be thankful that your mutation is helpful." - LD
This is one of the all-time great MMMMs. And I'm not just saying that because it involves one of my favorite subjects!
__________________ The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same. -- Carlos Castaneda
Since I am starting over, I feel this was written especially for me. However, when I was in the service, I ran some races and I always felt that some of the people who finished toward the end of the pack got more out of it than some who finished in front. We used to run physical fitness tests one part of which was a three mile run. At that time, it was my best event and I was frequently close to the front, but it had little to do with the fact that I worked harder than other guys. Some of the guys at the back of the pack put me to shame with the work they did.
John,
As usual, a great read. Ironically, one of our local TV reporters did the Lake Placid Triathalon and they did a 1/2 show on it and while the reporter finished decently, they did do a segment on the last person across the finish line. He was 50-60's, and could not train as well due to an injury, The race started in the AM and he finished just before midnite, thanking the event staff for waiting for him. A class act.
On a related note, God and medical science willing, I hope to run a 5K next year, and even coming across dead last, crossing on my own power will make me a winner!
I wish I'd had a copy of this to give to a race volunteer I worked with at a finish line of a 5K last year. Several of the runners were participants in a "Couch to 5K" program for brand new runners (most overweight and trying to lose some lbs.). He kept talking about how slow some of the finishers were coming in, the slowest times he had ever seen in a 5K, that their finishing times were comparable to fast-walking, etc. Some of this was pretty audible to the finishing runners as well. A pretty eccentric guy, though, who runs essentially every local finish line here. Hopefully he "got it" when he was reminded that many of the entrants were hard-working newbies, but I'm not sure he did.
You misspelled the acronym for NASCAR.
National
Association of
Stock
Car
Auto
Racing
Sincerely,
Ninja
Hmmm, and here all along I thought it was spelled R-E-D-N-E-C-K.
*ducks and runs for cover*
__________________
"Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right." - Henry Ford
"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." - Dr. Seuss
"Life is no brief candle to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations." - George Bernard Shaw
On a related note, God and medical science willing, I hope to run a 5K next year, and even coming across dead last, crossing on my own power will make me a winner!
Alan,
You're already a winner in my book.
__________________ In Fitness & Friendship, MAHLER
______________________________ __________________________ There is no light at the end of the tunnel. You carry the light with you.
Mahler’s Monday Morning Motivator # 132 – Dead Last
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