the apostle paul compares life to a race. paul also talks about wrestling. i’m guessing he liked sports. glad he wrote scriptures instead of sports illustrated, 35 a.d. (can you imagine that swimsuit issue?)
we aren’t all competitors against each other. you may see me as your competitor, someone you want to beat. but if I don’t step up to your starting line and compete, there is no race. there is no winner.
i’m not competing for the same prize as anyone else. even though we are on the same course (life), i’m not trying to outdo you. i’m trying to be me. the best me. the one god has called me to be.
i ran rockin’ k marathon in april. had a blast. i knew a couple of women running. i was on the same course with teresa, sophia, coleen and debbie. i was not competing against them.
when Steve and i run sprints in training, i’m not competing against him (okay, i’m trying to beat him, but it’s the mentality of a dog chasing his tail that’s been cut off by the rocking chair. NO WAY, NO HOW, but a girls got to have her dream.) i get the benefit of training with him because our trainer pushes steve hard, and i do the same (most of the time, there were these duck walks up the hill that i got to do an alternate and the pull ups...getting there but not there yet) exercises and reps (again, most of the time, sometimes i get to stop one short and sometimes steve does one more to finish with me, whataguy).
i’m a dang strong competitor. and as i told marquis the other night when he told me "average stops here, how far you going to go"? that i don't care about average. i don't care about how far anyone else goes, it's how far i go.
this is my life. my race. my effort. my goals.
i won't let someone else goad me into a competition that simply doesn't exist. whether it's life, or marquis yelling "don't let him catch you".
This could be your new mantra : if one will not, two cannot quarrel. :)
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