Mahler’s Monday Morning Motivator # 256 – What If?
Mahler’s Monday Morning Motivator # 256 – What If?
What If?(04-20-09)
Happy Patriot’s Day to those of you who come from the state of Massachusetts. For those of you who don’t and especially for you runners out there, you probably know that today is the running of the famed Boston Marathon. Inspired by the running of the marathon in the first modern Olympics, the Boston Marathon has been an annual event since 1897.
Many motivators ago, I related the story of Pheidippides, the Greek messenger whose legendary run first appears in the works of Plutarch. It was said that he was sent from the Battle of Marathon to announce the victory over the Persians to the people of Athens. After a run of some twenty-six plus miles, and making his way into the assembly and announcing, “We have won” he died with the joyous shouts of victory ringing in his ears. Truly, this is the stuff of inspiration, regardless of its apocryphal nature.
In modern times, every year, hundreds of thousands of people run that grueling 26 miles, and today tens of thousands have qualified to run one of the most famous and without doubt the granddaddy of these events. Their goal? Not to win, not to take home a cash prize, not to seek glory, but simply to complete the course, simply to cross the finish line, simply to be able to say, “I did it.”
Now, I am not a runner by nature. Oh, I can crank out 2 or 3 miles a few times a week at a decent pace, but it is in doing so that I can appreciate the hard work and dedication that must go into the training of distance runners. Every once in a while, I am prompted to think, what if?
What if these thousands of runners gathered after months, no years, of training and met on a cool April morning in Boston? What if they registered and went about their own private rituals to prepare for the race? What if they went over in their minds, again and again, their strategy for completing the course? What if the time drew near and the adrenaline started pumping? What if the race began and the long hours of running, of keeping pace, of hitting the wall, of overcoming fatigue commenced? And . . . what if, when the first runner crossed the finish line, all those thousands behind just stopped in their tracks and walked away? What an absolutely amazing, yet confusing sight that would be.
After all, the race has been won and their chances to cross that finish line first are now zero, regardless of how slim they were even at the beginning of the race. Why bother to keep running? Why bother to finish? Because, that is what they came for, not to win, but to finish. And, we, my friends, can take a lesson from such dedication. What if every time things didn’t go as planned in our training, we just gave up and walked away or moved on to something else? What if we missed that planned new personal record and just threw in the towel and didn’t complete the rest of our workout? What if we suffered a minor setback or injury and just said “to hell with it?”
We have far more opportunities in our lives just to finish, than we will ever have to finish first. There can only be one winner, and yet we can be losers only if we choose to be.
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Copyright 2004-2009 John R. Gesselberty. Mahler's Monday Morning Motivators (MMMM) may not be copied or used without permission of the author. All rights reserved.
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__________________ In Fitness & Friendship, MAHLER
______________________________ __________________________ There is no light at the end of the tunnel. You carry the light with you.
I would never run again if I was worried about winning. Thanks for the thoughts John. One note on the distance runers, our ownTwinsVikingsfan will be Knocking out a 50K trail run here in Wisconsin in a few weeks. 31 Miles
__________________ -50# by 4/1/10 2 down 48 to go.
Once again, a quoteworthy final statement. Great work, John. Thanks!
__________________ 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
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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)
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Mahler’s Monday Morning Motivator # 256 – What If?
What If?(04-20-09)
In modern times, every year, hundreds of thousands of people run that grueling 26 miles, and today tens of thousands have qualified to run one of the most famous and without doubt the granddaddy of these events. Their goal? Not to win, not to take home a cash prize, not to seek glory, but simply to complete the course, simply to cross the finish line, simply to be able to say, “I did it.”
..... Because, that is what they came for, not to win, but to finish. And, we, my friends, can take a lesson from such dedication. What if every time things didn’t go as planned in our training, we just gave up and walked away or moved on to something else? What if we missed that planned new personal record and just threw in the towel and didn’t complete the rest of our workout? What if we suffered a minor setback or injury and just said “to hell with it?”
We have far more opportunities in our lives just to finish, than we will ever have to finish first. There can only be one winner, and yet we can be losers only if we choose to be.
Very well written. I had the honor of talking to and congratulating a number of competitors (and their supporting family members) on my flight from Boston to Houston on Monday afternoon.
If you want to be inspired, watch a wheelchair racer. Two competitors were on my flight. They handled themselves and their chairs, as well as their racing chairs, with grace and strength we would all do well to emulate.
Oh, by the way, every competitior said it was a tough day. The wind was right into their face for much of the course. So much for the WSJ description of Boston as a downhill race that frequently has a supporting tailwind.
Mahler’s Monday Morning Motivator # 256 – What If?
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