Everyone Needs Hope

It has been slightly over five years now, but I still recall our first family 5K race. My wife, daughter, and I were living near Memphis TN, and it was early October. The race was a typical 5K route looping through a neighborhood. At the starting line of the race, I man next to me told me to be aware of a really long, steep hill in mile two of the race. I gladly thanked him for the advice and focused on the start. There were hundreds runners, so it was pretty crowded that crisp fall morning.

While the three of us entered the race together, our goals were completely different. My wife enjoys looking at the surroundings as she runs. She runs her pace regardless of what others are doing and takes in all the views. She can tell you about all the homes along the route after the race. Our daughter primarily focuses on just getting through it and finding that finish line. I have three goals on any race. I want to improve my previous time, to not allow anyone to pass me on a hill, and to be breathing at the end. I think those are three great goals. Improvement, toughness, and continued existence are three solid goals.

The race started pretty normal that morning. My wife went at her pace, and I ran alongside my daughter for about the first mile. At that one mile marker my daughter picked up the pace and left me behind. As I got to that two mile marker, I noticed the route took us to the left and up a hill. That hill was pretty tough, and many were now walking as I continued to trudge upward. As I made it to the top of the hill and began a slight downward run, I soon caught up to my daughter. She was barely jogging and was visibly upset. I slowed and moved over toward her and asked what was wrong. She pointed ahead toward that leftward turn up the hill that we had faced on mile two. She said that she could not go back up that hill again. What she didn't notice was that we would be going right this time and down a slight curve toward the finish line. The finish line was no more than a quarter of a mile away. I could actually hear music playing at the finish line.

When she realized that she didn't have to go up the hill again, she immediately picked up here pace and left me a second time. We all finished the race that day with mixed results on goals. The lessons from that morning go far beyond those goals and are relevant to all of us at one time or another.

Lesson 1: Don't let the past adversely impact your future. My daughter saw that tough hill (her past) and allowed it to defeat her. She saw an obstacle from the past and was ready to shutdown. Learn from the past. Grow stronger from past struggles. Don't; however, focus on the past. Look toward the future. Look to where you are going, not where you have been.

Lesson 2: There's more gas in the tank. You may think you are at the end and can't do more. You may be tired or even exhausted. You can continue. My daughter thought she was done until she found clarity in direction. With the right focus and attitude, you can do more. Get your focus right and then move forward. The right mental approach means everything.

Lesson 3: Sometimes in life you will need to sacrifice your goals for others. Goals are great to have, and they serve some very needed purposes. They motivate us to achieve more, they manage our performance to help us stay focused, and they help us measure our progress as we develop. There are times though, that other's needs are more important than our personal goals. I slowed down that morning to encourage my daughter. That moment meant more to me than any goal I could ever achieve. Don't get so focused on personal goals that you miss opportunities to help others.

Lesson 4: Just keep running; the finish line may be closer than you think: There will be times in life that you want to quit. Just keep taking that next step. My daughter was about to stop, but she had no idea how close she was to the end. There is great power in the "one more" concept. Just one more step. Just one more sales call. Just one more paper. Just one more attempt. Just one more day. We can all do one more. I am now preparing to run a half-marathon. There's no way I want to think about running over 13 miles at one time. I can; however, see myself running one mile thirteen times. Just one more. I don't know what your "one more" is in your life, but you can do one more.

Four life lessons from a simple 5k race. The key to all of these lessons is hope. Everyone just needs hope to keep going. As we impact the lives of others, let's look for opportunities to provide clarity and hope to others. That's all I really did that morning. I just provided hope.

By the way, my daughter's name: Hope!