Skip to main content

Beyond the Start

man on running field

Have you ever noticed how couples seem to focus more on a wedding than they do on the marriage? It’s as if they looked at their wedding day as the finish line and not the starting gun (Although some couples, shortly after being married, wish they had a gun ... but I digress) And it’s not just marriages; kids celebrate being accepted into college as if that is the accomplishment. And how about serial entrepreneurs? These are guys who start up a new business every few months. And there’s a lot of people who “start” working out every January and then “donate” a nice monthly fee to support the gym’s activities in their absence from February on.

We are a society that is all about the start. We start going to college, we start businesses and we start diets. We want our kids to have a good “start,” but seem to be far less concerned about where they end up. We are great about getting started. We are terrible at finishing.

 Hospitals don’t typically seek out doctors who started medical school. They kinda prefer the ones who actually finished. I know people who start dozens of new diets every year but are still overweight because each new diet usually gets torpedoed by the following weekend. And the serial entrepreneur – don’t you think that they would stick with their original business if it really was going well? But no, they start new ones as the old ones die off, more like a serial killer of business ideas than a serial entrepreneur.

Yes, starting something new can be difficult. And there is certainly value in a good start. But we must not overemphasize a start or celebrate it too much. No one get’s a ribbon for starting a marathon (it’s 2020, maybe they do now – but they shouldn’t). There are plenty of starters out there; be a finisher. Celebrate endurance and perseverance. Run the race to finish strong, not merely to start well. Life celebrates the finishers.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Toxic Humility

We have all seen false humility: the guy who tries to hide his arrogance with feigned modesty. It’s usually pretty obvious and always obnoxious. But there is also another variation of false humility out there: toxic humility. This is often displayed in self-deprecating talk and a lack of self-confidence, belittling or undermining one’s own talents and abilities. The danger in this kind of behavior is twofold: it is too often accepted as true humility and like a virus, it spreads doubt and disbelief. To clarify, it is not that the bearer of this toxic humility isn’t honest about his view of himself. That is the very issue: he absolutely believes he has little value or utility. He thinks downplaying his own worth is humility but I disagree. CS Lewis said it best when he wrote, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking about yourself less.” His point being, true humility is not an ever-present raincloud of self-doubt that follows you around. It’s a focus on...
Post a Comment
Read more

Flower Among Thorns

About six or seven years ago, my wife was around three months pregnant as we eagerly anticipated the birth of another child. One night, as I lay sleeping, I had a dream that our baby was born. It was a beautiful little girl with thin, wispy hair and large, bright eyes punctuating her beautiful face. I held her proudly in my arms and stared down at this precious little creation. I carefully handed her off to her older brother, who was just a toddler himself, as he sat on the coach, arms outstretched, anxiously awaiting the chance to hold his baby sister. I helped him prop up a pillow underneath his little arms to help support my daughter and then stepped back to take in the amazing sight as he gazed down at her with both pride and amazement in his eyes. As I stood there watching them, the dream quickly faded. When I woke up, my eyes met the tearful glance of my wife. “I’m bleeding,” she said as she fought back the emotions, “I think I am miscarrying.” Those words sunk deeply i...
1 comment
Read more

The Art of Intentionality

  “Intentional living is the art of making our own choices before others’ choices make you.” – Richie Norton   I am not even sure who Richie Norton is, but I love that quote! I imagine a ship drifting out to sea, pushed around by the wind and the waves. No course of direction, yet the captain is frustrated when the ship ends up dashed against the rocks, trapped on a sandbar or marooned on an inhospitable island. It is easy to complain when life takes us where we do not want to go. But who is really to blame if we have never set our sails to align us along an appropriate course? Do we blame the waves, wind and the weather? Or should we blame the captain of the ship? It is our life and our ship. We must set our sails with intentionality and determined choices. Otherwise, we are doomed to aimlessly drift along according to the choices and decisions of others. 
Post a Comment
Read more