My life is a whirlwind! Do you ever feel the same way? Our thinking is usually along the lines that if we can just get over this hurdle, we’ll be able to take a breather and slow down for a while. I don’t know about you, but for me that never seems to happen. Rather, it seems to be that while I am leaping over the so called hurdle, the next one comes into sight.
I guess the Apostle Paul was right when he likens this life to a race. Every athlete runs to win or to get the prize. So I guess the first thing we need to do is prioritize. What’s the prize for your life? The job is important. Somebody has to pay the bills. But what about family, church, civic and social relationships and functions, we can’t allow them to deteriorate.
I had to do a study of athletes for a camp that I directed last month. Every athlete that I studied seemed to say the same thing. This thing is tough. The practices and the conditioning are hard. But all the discipline is worth it when you cross that line ahead of the rest. For some athletes, it was just good to cross the line wherever. I have a son who is at the age where he believes everything has to be fair. If things don’t go his way, all I ever hear is, "It isn’t fair." It’s true, life isn’t always fair. But that doesn’t mean we give up. A race car driver studies the track until he can drive it with his eyes closed. He knows the obstacles of turn number two and how much he can accelerate coming out of turn number four. We don’t have that type of advantage, but we can be assured of one thing, life is going to be filled with many turns, hurdles, obstacles, or whatever else you want to call them. We just need to be committed to the race. Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that if we can just make it through this everything else is going to be alright. Let’s realize, rather, that the conditioning and the discipline that we’ve learned through this can only help us through what lies ahead.
The other thing to realize is that unlike a real race, where only one can win, this life is weathered much easier by running it with a few close friends. And of course, don’t forget the “COACH”!