Running Your Race

It starts at birth and ends in debt.
It is usually harmless comparison:
“How much did yours weigh at birth? Mine was 3.6kgs.”
“Is yours sitting yet?”
” Mine has one tooth, way ahead of what the book says”

Our mothers start us out on this, comparing naturally occurring  milestones, as if they have any influence on it. Quickly followed by our fathers when we are old enough to do sports and with  school grades, then we grow into it, comparing our successes to our peers, whoever we conceive those to be. We want to “win” however high the cost, so we buy cars, clothes and booze on loan, and sign up to lifestyles we cannot fund, just to be like “everyone else”.

Are we really meant to be similar?

This last weekend I went on my first serious run after my 2010 accident that almost cost me my legs. As I prepared, I was afraid I’d either finish last, or injure my legs further (in that order).

Well, I didn’t finish last and my legs lived, but something stood out for me during the run. Running / walking for 2 hours gives you a lot of time to think.
My position didn’t matter, whether I finished first or last, and really there was nothing to brag about.

We were all running individual races. I was running to recover from an injury and prove to myself that Al Shabaab may have wounded me, but didn’t take this away from me. There’s the 9 year old who was training to be a pro runner some day, the lady who had an injury and was hoping to just finish (she managed 4km on an injured leg). There’s the old man running off his pot belly. Everyone was running their race, and their definition of winning did not depend on any of us.

It’s the same thing with life. We all have our stories, and our reasons for doing what we do.
What is your definition of success? Is it based on what others have defined success to be, or is it based on what you feel would amount to success based on your past, present and how you want to be eulogized when you die?

Why do you do what you do?

Bottom line, it’s important to be careful who and what defines you, lest you run a race that isn’t yours
“Keep your own scorecard. Don’t let other people tell you who you are.”  A quote I found so useful.

When graduating in nursery school, every child gets a ribbon signifying they all won, and we chuckle in amusement, but really, that’s as true as life can be. We are all winners.

Who won our run last Saturday?

Is it the pro runner who finished 30 minutes ahead of everyone else?

Was it Kellie who did it in 2 hours 1 minute after a doctor had said she would never run?

Or the mzee who came in 10 minutes after her?

Bottom line, we are all winners, we just need to believe it.

Photo Credit