It reminded me of one of the last things I had seen the previous evening before sleep overtook me. That image was the Olympic pool as Katie Ledecky won the 400 meter freestyle race in world record time.
Olympic athletes don't just happen into victories such as this. There is so much to do to prepare; all those early morning swimming sessions, all those early meets as they are growing up, that single minded purpose, and that sacrifice of time and effort to be their best.
It all comes down to wanting to be the best at what you do, although wanting to be the best does not always mean doing your best. A person may not ever be the best in the world at what they do, but they can always do their best.
I notice on the TV screen the finish of a particular race. There are 8 spots on that graphic, three of which are medal spots, gold, silver and bronze, and there are also 5 more spots for the folks in that final that did not medal. Which of those did their best?
It may be safe to say, but in that situation it would be a very high probability that they all did. Not only those 8, but also those who had been eliminated in the previous heats of that Olympiad, and not only those Olympic athletes, but those who had not made the team from their country. All of these were good swimmers, good enough to try out, but they did not make it out of the trials. Even though they did not win gold, they could, and would, be winners because they were willing to do their best.
They may have some momentary regret because they did not go all the way to the top, but they will never regret having put it all on the line, the best they had.
Back in the last century, when I was coaching high school boys and girls running cross country, one of the training techniques used was the multiple running of a set loop around a course. Runners would begin at one spot, run the loop, come back to the start and continue the same loop for as many times as the exercise called for. Doing it well called for mental toughness as well as physical endurance.
There were those at times whose aim was to see how little they could do. They could walk the course when out of sight of the coaches, or they could even hide back there and join the group on the next lap, thereby skipping a whole lap.
They liked the accolades that came with finishing well in a race, but were unwilling to always do their best when no one could see. Those same accolades did not hold up over time, even in their own minds, but they were too shortsighted to see or know that fact.
The opportunity to do our best is not limited to sports, it is there in our daily lives with family, work, friends, church and wherever else we find ourselves.
We can all be winners when we do our best, regardless of the scoreboard, but there can be a lifelong regret of what could have been, if only we had.
It's our choice, but..
There are No Shortcuts
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