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Tag Archives: Success
It’s Hard to Win a Marathon One Lap at a Time
Sometimes I feel like I can conquer the world. I feel like I am ready to tackle all obstacles life (and two kids) have to throw me. I feel like I can “be all I can be” and finally become the person that Oprah says I that I should. `
But most days I don’t. Most days I feel like I run life in small circles. I want to break free and run the marathon of my life but instead I am stuck running around a track. I keep thinking that if I can only run the track a little faster, a little more efficiently then I can start the long distance run.
In other words, I keep thinking that if I could just get organized, if I could just get a system than I would have time to write like I want. I’d have time for myself. I could be more involved with my kids and be more fulfilled.
But here’s the problem. Before I can tackle the large project, I have to recover from daily living. Dishes have to be washed every day. Clothes have to be washed. Floors must be swept. Toilets cleaned on a semi-annual basis. You get the picture. So when all that has been accomplished, the day is half gone and I am already tired.
Now with the remaining time/energy, I can begin world domination (or at least a modicum of control in my own life). But where to start? Should I sit down and finally write that post that has been bouncing around my head? But no, I still have so many blogs to visit. I shouldn’t post without returning the visits. But now I see the basket bursting with clothes still not put away from our trip. I really should deal with that. Because I can’t relax when surrounded by clutter. Oh, and there is that pile of receipts to be sorted that make my desk a paper graveyard rather than a deeply desired writing nook.
And oh my goodness, it’s time to fix dinner. And the dryer is beeping. And soon it will be bath time. And stories and bed. And then I’ll start the whole thing over tomorrow.
I’m still running circles. Around and around. I should be in really good shape when I do get to that marathon.
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But You Did Win Silver
I am not much of a sports person. I can get caught up with a larger experience, however. I love the Olympics. I swell with country pride, I cheer alongside my fellow locals when my city does well in the playoffs, etc. I don’t think that I am a fair weather fan, it’s just that what I love about sports is the communal experience.
I remember listening to the 1980 Miracle Hockey team live on the radio. I barely turned away from the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. And I screamed out loud in public when the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team won the World Cup in 1999.
So of course, I got pretty excited when this year, the women of US Soccer wound their way through the playoffs again. A series of amazing wins had brought them to the finals. And sure, I would have loved for them to win but I was impressed by how they lost.
It was not their best game. They missed opportunities. They missed goals. But they played with heart and lost with a graciousness not often seen these days. And what country needed that win more than Japan? Can’t really think of one. So congrats, ladies of Japan — you deserved that win.
I saw a t-shirt two days ago that made a little sad. It said, “Good is the enemy of Great”. It was worn by an eight year old boy. Is that really what we want to teach children? That if you’re not the best, if you’re “good”, you’re not good enough?
I flashed back to those ’96 Olympics. I remembered that Nike had an ad campaign stating “Because you don’t win silver, you lose gold”. It broke my heart. These people work and train their whole life. They are already the elite of the elite to be in the Olympics to begin with and Nike is telling them that the only winner is the one standing on the center platform. I challenge that thinking.
Their work is not for naught. And neither is the work of the US Women’s Soccer Team. Sports are about more than a Win-Loss ratio. They are about bringing out the best in people — both the players and the fans. They don’t always live up to it but yesterday those ladies did. So congrats to the US team, as well, you did us proud.
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