Finish Your Race!
Get up, Get Going Again … and Finish Your Race!
In the 1992 Olympics, British Olympian Derek Redmon unknowingly modeled how to persist even when his hopes were demolished. He tore a ligament midway through his race. As the rest of the runners finished, he writhed in pain on the track. His hopes, dreams, and months of hard work lay crumpled on the track.
Then, determined to finish the race, he began to push himself off the ground and ran again. But after only a few short strides, his legs failed, and he slowed to a tottering walk.
At that point, an older spectator appeared on the track. Security guards tried to stop the man, who was as single-minded as the runner. Seeing this unexpected spectacle, the crowd erupted in standing applause. The two crossed the finish line … together. The man was Derek's father!
Sometimes, a hope like Derek's can be modified or saved. But it usually takes courage and sheer determination. In the same way, your Heavenly Father is also cheering you on. So get up, get going again … and finish your race!
Quotes to Ponder
You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. —C. S. Lewis
To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting. ―E.E. Cummings
Live every day as if it's your last. And someday, you'll be right! —Muhammad Ali
Don't measure how valuable you are by the way you are treated," said the horse. "Always remember you matter, you're important, and you are loved, and you bring this world things no one else can. —Charlie Mackesy
Life is a series of adjustments; you can make changes along the way, but if you don't start moving forward, you'll never get anywhere. —Kimora Lee Simmons
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. —Edmund Burke
It's not whether you get knocked down. It's whether you get up! —NFL Coach Vince Lombardi
Every victory counts!— Davis Phinney,
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.—The Apostle Paul to Timothy (2 Timothy 4:7)