I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure. -Eric Liddell (Chariots of Fire)
I got up way too early this morning to go downtown and support my wife in the Dallas Rock n' Roll half marathon. It was a gorgeous day. I always enjoy going downtown and walking the streets in between the tall, big buildings. Even though I'm a skinny guy with a mustache, I always feel like Batman when I'm downtown. I even keep my eyes a little more wide open in case I see any crime that needs to be dealt with.
It amazes me to see the masses of people that run in these things. They pay fifty dollars or whatever it is to take part in what seems to me to be an almost religious experience. As runners whizzed by me while I walked down Elm Street, something occurred to me. I was traveling on the same street as the runners and yet I wasn't really in the race. If an outsider had been watching what was going on they may have thought I was in the race as well, albeit slower than everyone else, but I wasn't. I was just an observer.
You see, the real competitors had to sign up and pay money to participate. They had to train and sacrifice to take part in this event. It doesn't matter what the situation looked like. I wasn't as involved as it may have appeared. These people were running 13.1 miles. That's a long stretch. I was just walking around.
Ok, so what's my point? I think I have two actually.
1) If you want the medal, you have to work.
It's not enough to just be in the vicinity of successful people. That's nice. That's motivating. But you, yourself, have to get up and do something. Nobody can run your race for you. YOU have to do it! Just cause you're in the race doesn't mean you're in the race.
2) Watch out for people who show up for photo ops.
I looked like I belonged. I may have even looked like I was in the race. But I wasn't. I hadn't paid the dues. I hadn't trained. I just showed up.
There are no shortcuts in life. You have to pay your dues. You have to train. You have to be in the race to be in the race.
I did do a good job cheering on my girl though. She did awesome! And it was pretty cool to see Blues Traveler live.
Check out my other posts.
It amazes me to see the masses of people that run in these things. They pay fifty dollars or whatever it is to take part in what seems to me to be an almost religious experience. As runners whizzed by me while I walked down Elm Street, something occurred to me. I was traveling on the same street as the runners and yet I wasn't really in the race. If an outsider had been watching what was going on they may have thought I was in the race as well, albeit slower than everyone else, but I wasn't. I was just an observer.
You see, the real competitors had to sign up and pay money to participate. They had to train and sacrifice to take part in this event. It doesn't matter what the situation looked like. I wasn't as involved as it may have appeared. These people were running 13.1 miles. That's a long stretch. I was just walking around.
Ok, so what's my point? I think I have two actually.
1) If you want the medal, you have to work.
It's not enough to just be in the vicinity of successful people. That's nice. That's motivating. But you, yourself, have to get up and do something. Nobody can run your race for you. YOU have to do it! Just cause you're in the race doesn't mean you're in the race.
2) Watch out for people who show up for photo ops.
I looked like I belonged. I may have even looked like I was in the race. But I wasn't. I hadn't paid the dues. I hadn't trained. I just showed up.
There are no shortcuts in life. You have to pay your dues. You have to train. You have to be in the race to be in the race.
I did do a good job cheering on my girl though. She did awesome! And it was pretty cool to see Blues Traveler live.
Check out my other posts.
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