Coming in Last
Discouragement cramps our momentum; the heat-stroke of opposition can drain our stamina and motivation. Running into obstacles that drive our faces in the asphalt of reality make it hard to get back up.
Our stories are not unlike Felicians Hopfner-Hibb's or Simon Whitfield's. Last Monday (Aug 18/08 Beijing Olympics) Simon Whitfield took silver in the Men's Triathlon. CBC sports coverage said he mounted a furious rally to briefly take the lead late in the closing sprint before being overtaken over the final stretch by Germany's Jan Frodeno.
"I kind of fought my way on there, and I thought there's no time like the present," Whitfield said. "I tried to make it a battle of pure willpower. I gave it everything I had." There was a point in a television interview where Whitfiled admitted he wasn't sure he could make it. Many of us know what it's like to give life or a situation everything we've got. But sometimes it's just not enough, and we have to accept coming in second or third--or last.