“I know what I have to do, and I’m going to do whatever it takes. If I do it, I’ll come out a winner, and it doesn’t matter what anyone else does.”-Florence Griffith Joyner
The senior pastor at my church has had a rough couple of years. He blew out his knee, requiring surgery. He contracted meningitis, which knocked him down for a while. He suffered a cardiac incident that required the insertion of a pacemaker to correct. It just didn’t seem like he could catch a break.
Earlier this year he competed in, and finished, the Iron Man Triathalon. His goal wasn’t to win. His goal wasn’t to beat other people. His goal was simply to complete it. Victory, to him, was in overcoming the obstacles life had presented him and fulfilling a dream.
Too often we use other people as the benchmark of our own success. We should instead look at where we are in relation to where we’ve been and what we’re capable of. We can strive to be better by increments.
