It’s Time to Win
“Burying dead yesterdays can be as difficult as a graveside funeral. Imagining unborn tomorrows involves no less labor than childbirth. But if you want to win the day, there is no other way.”
It’s time to win.
The thought emerged between the trees and the hill as I ran. Starting training only a few weeks before, I was already feeling the benefit of this new routine, stress release. I am a runner, but this year I hit the trail a few months later than normal. Spring felt cold and I was sluggish. Pulling my knees up with each stride and breathing through the difficulty of the steep hill I spoke the words out loud again.
It’s time to win.
I wasn’t just talking about conquering the hill. I was talking about winning in life. Have you ever been there? In that uncomfortable spot between the accomplishments of the past and the doubt of the present? To be honest, I have been stuck in such a mental state of low self-image for a while. I battled thoughts of doubt almost by the minute, and the result of such downward thinking was a failure to achieve.
As a younger woman achievement was very important to me. It was hard to find any peace in sitting down for even a moment during the sunlight hours of the day. When my alarm went off at 5:30 A.M. I had a task list to complete. I was on the go and in the flow, but then life threw in some curve balls. Losing a job, becoming a mother to a new baby, and moving out of my safety zone to a new community. More curve balls came in the following years as my children grew older. Life had done a pretty good job of wrangling me to the ground until I couldn’t help but cry out, “Mercy.”
Questions wove their way through my confidence.
What kind of mother am I?
What kind of wife?
What kind of minister?
And the list of questions continued until I could hardly look anyone in the eye. My self-talk had gotten negative. I was stuck in regret over the past. I had lost my “why” for the present. But as I ran, the blood circulating, breathing in summer as the sweat poured out, I felt confident my life had not flatlined. Of course, there were things I couldn’t change, and situations I had no control over. With my shoes pounding the pavement, I became convinced nothing could take away my freedom to look on the bright side. Such hope lifted a burden off of my chest, “Yes, I can win again.”
“Good action today will produce good living tomorrow. Reasonably good expectations for tomorrow are based on positive thinking and prudent action today.”
I was on the junior high track team. This is the extent of my athletic experience, so I don’t know much about what it is like to win as a team. But I do know how it feels to work on a song until each note is hit perfectly. I know what it is to deliver a line from the stage with such emotion the audience cries in response. I do know what it is like to write a piece that conveys my heart far better than I ever could express verbally. I know how it is to help a person find their smile again. Or to help them find hope in dire circumstances. This got me thinking about what it means to truly win.
The trees were a canopy above me as I rounded the bend in the road recalling a memory.
One time I got to hear a famous Christian Pastor/writer speak at a conference with thousands of people hanging on his every word. As he spoke many were furiously writing notes about how to be a better Christian. How to win in their lives. I was sitting with my husband and another couple only three rows from the front. We were only three rows back and directly behind where this speaker was sitting.
At the same conference, there was another speaker. Unlike the well-dressed keynote, this man was a father clothed in a teeshirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. He stood to wave as the energetic M.C.s mentioned his break-out session on fathering children with special needs. He was sitting in the second row in front of us and directly behind the Star. His young adult son sat next to him. He had a hard time sitting still. His tall thin frame was clothed in a matching tee shirt. To help his son, the Father held the loop of his pants to keep him from jumping up to hug the important people sitting in the front row of honor.
As the famous writer thanked everyone for their attention at the end of his piece he exited the stage. The M.C.’s were on their feet hyping up the crowd for the next teaching segment. The room was buzzing with laughter and cheers in an effort to revive the crowd. The Keynote speaker returned to his chair without looking around. But the young man stood before his father could grab hold of the belt loop and kissed the important man on the eyebrow. The action was so quick the famous one could not hide his initial response.
He had inspired the audience for an hour on how to win the day. Clapping and an ovation followed him to where the young man met him uninvited. Entering the man’s personal space without permission his kiss instantly revealed the heart of the great writer.
The famous man smiled at him before the young man’s father stood quickly to apologize and help his son to sit back down. But the renowned Pastor did not scowl or try to turn away. Instead, he stopped at that precise moment. Patting the young man on the back he whispered, “Thank you.”
From the third row, I watched mesmerized. The famous guy actually lived what he wrote about.
He won the day!
He was not so wrapped up in himself that he forgot to love. Jesus loved like that, and He loves us like that. Love is at the base of winning that lasts.
“I have loved you, O my people, with an everlasting love; with loving-kindness I have drawn you to me.”
Nearing the end of the trail I slowed down to a walk. I considered this love and felt kindness toward myself. I prayed, “Lord help me to be mindful in the present, to see those around me, and to choose kindness now.”
Finishing my cool-down, I paused to look up at the brilliant blue sky to say, “It’s time to win.