mindfirerunner

I was listening to ESPN Radio the other day and, as usual in Denver, they were talking about Tim Tebow and his “God-given abilities” to overcome in the 4th quarter. The same proved true in yesterday’s game with a late 4th quarter play, field goal, and overtime, chalking another win up for Tebow. Someone made a comment about his ability to win no matter what the circumstances and the joke began on how he even won his very first race (conception), and has been winning ever since. The conversation quickly turned into how all of us are winners. We all won our very first race into existence. Think about it – how many other potential “people” did you beat out to take first place? I was laughing so hard I was crying, but the conversation was so poignant. How many times do you hear “I never win anything”, or “I’m just not good enough”, or “I’m not worth it”. Well, you won your very first, and one could argue quite validly, the very most important race in your life.

Society has “dummied” us down. We accept mediocrity and provide medals and trophies to our children who finish 2nd, 3rd, last place. By doing this, we show that it doesn’t matter how you do in life you will always be rewarded. I don’t agree with this, but I agree with knowing that there are other forms of winning. Winning is more than taking first place. Winning is the ability to set all else aside for a few minutes a day for you. Winning is the ability to know when you’ve failed, but you look for chances to be better. Winning is recognizing that you’re not perfect and never will be, but unlike the mainstream concept of “Why Try?”, you try – and you try harder each day.

Sometimes we have to lose a few in order to understand and appreciate the effort that we put into trying. If it were easy we would never push ourselves to be better or try harder, or in some cases even try. What’s the old proverb, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”? What if Tim Tebow just gave up once the Broncos reached the 4th quarter. Who could come back from a loss every single time this late in the game?

So, it’s 4th quarter and you’re down. You haven’t had a chance to get out and run all week or you’ve lost your motivation and beat yourself up because you want to get out there and run, but you just haven’t. What are you going to do about it?  I say, make it Tebow Time and go get yourself a win.