“Show kindness whenever possible. Show it to the people in front of you, the people coming up behind you, and the people with whom you are running neck and neck. It will vastly improve the quality of your own life, the lives of others, and the state of the world.”
I am finally to the point that I can call myself a runner. It is one of those things in life that I did for a cause and not because I was really going to make it a habit. It was a bucket list item for me that I didn’t really know was an item until I signed up. However, over time it has become a habit.
There are so many great lessons to be learned from running, training, and racing. Unless you are one of the select few with God given talent you will be in all the roles listed above at some point (the lead, the middle, and the last) in the race of life. There is something to be gained and learned from each of these positions.
If you are in the lead, most likely you won’t be for long and you will fall to one of the other positions. The lead gives you a great feeling of accomplishment as it does in life, but it can be a lonely position. Being in the middle can be comfortable, but there is a constant movement around you people passing you and you passing others. Then there is the position of being neck and neck with someone and the competitive nature kicks in – all of a sudden it can feel like two or three of you are the only ones racing. Rounding out the rear of a race can be a lonely place, but someone will always hold this position. The one thing I can say with all the races I have run that is for sure about this position, many of those that have finished before you will be cheering you on at the finish line. This is an awesome thing – the competitive nature is gone and they really want you to finish and do so to the best of your ability!
I love the above quote! What a gift in life – not to forget the importance of your own role relative to the role or position of those around us. We can all help and love each other and by doing so, not only to help them, but also help those around us. I, once again, have found myself in the middle of training for a race for Inheritance of Hope. One of my friends that is training with me (we run neck and neck together, but only because she is nice enough to do “easy” runs with me), told me the other day how when she was running high school cross country she would cheer others on as she passed them with encouraging words. How cool!
Who will you cheer on today and how – making both of your lives and the world richer and fuller?
Blog post written by Angela Bailey, Legacy Retreat Coordinator
