Now that my heart is fixed, I’m beginning to yearn for the race day experience and all it takes to cross the finish line.
I found this writing from two years ago.
Race Day
Today is race day.
Thirty weeks of training wrapped up in seven hours of intense, mind-over-matter physical activity.
I’ve done enough of these to know that it’s not about the race, even though few feelings in the world match the feeling one gets when crossing the finish line in accomplishing any important goal or plan.
It’s about the race within the race.
It’s about the finish lines that lead to the ultimate finish line.
It’s about the hundreds of mind-over-matter moments leading up to the race day.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE JOURNEY
When I coach people, some succeed in setting and accomplishing their goals, and others fail.
Those who succeed embrace the journey. They understand it is never perfect or enjoyable and rarely matches the initial path envisioned in their minds.
Those who fail don’t embrace the journey. When things get tough, they give up. Their efforts don’t produce perfection, so they throw in the towel. The going gets tough, and their will gets weak.
I repeatedly failed when I was in the throes of addiction and attempted sobriety. I wanted my life completely straightened out in a moment when it had been twisted for years.
Beating addiction or bad habits is a day-at-a-time journey with a day-at-a-time finish line.
If we aren’t careful, we often allow this life to distract us from the most important journey and the most important finish line.
Actually, there is no finish line; if we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, it is an infinite line.
It’s a continuing line we cross only after He recaps our journey on earth—yes, I believe there is a judgment day.
At that moment, He will tell us how well we ran the race, how well we loved Him and our neighbors, and how well we performed on our journey called life.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE JOURNEY
2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”
1 Corinthians 9:24-27, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”
P.E.A.C.E.
Jay@EagleLaunch.com
Thank you for this good reminder. As we see the devastation all around us after hurricane Helene, it’s hard to imagine folks ever putting back the pieces of their lives. But in the words of the late Elizabeth Elliot, similar to your words here, “Do the next thing…”—take the next step—each getting us closer to Jesus. Yes!