The Race by Dee Groberg

"Quit! Give up! You're beaten!"
They shout at me, and plead
"There's just too much against you now.
This time you can't succeed."
And as I start to hang my head
In front of failure's face
My downward fall is broken by
The memory of a race.
And hope refills my weakened will
As I recall that scene
For, just the thought of that short race
Rejuvenates my being.

A children's race, young boys, young men
Now, I remember well,
Excitement, sure! But also fear,
It wasn't hard to tell.

They all lined up so full of hope
Each thought to win that race,
Or, tie for first, if not that,
At least take second place.

And fathers watched from off the side
Each cheering for his son.
And each boy hoped to show his dad,
that he would be the one.

The whistle blew, and off they went
Young hearts and hopes afire
To win, to be the hero there
Was each young boy's desire.

And one boy in particular,
Whose dad was in the crowd,
Was running near the head and thought:
"My dad will be so proud!"

But as they speeded down the field
Across a shallow dip
The little boy who thought to win,
Lost his step and slipped.

Trying hard to catch himself,
His hands flew out to brace
And 'mid the laughter of the crowd
He fell flat on his face.

So, down he fell, and with him hope
- he couldn't win it now -
Embarrassed, sad, he only wished
To disappear somehow.

But, as he fell, his dad stood up,
And showed his anxious face,
Which to the boy so clearly said:
"Get up and win the race."

He quickly rose, no damage done,
- behind a bit, that's all -
And ran with all his mind and might
To make up for his fall.

So, anxious to restore himself
- to catch up and to win -
His mind went faster than his legs;
He slipped and fell again!

He wished, then, he had quit before
With only one disgrace.
"I'm hopeless as a runner now;
I shouldn't try to race.

But, in the laughing crowd he searched
And found his father's face.
That steady look that said again!
"Get up and win the race."

So, up he jumped, to try again
- ten yards behind the last -
"If I'm to gain those yards," he thought
'I've got to move real fast."

Exceeding everything he had
He gained back eight or ten,
But trying so, to catch the lead,
He slipped and fell again!

Defeat! He lay there silently
- a tear dropped from his eye -
"There is no sense in running more;
Three strikes, I'm out, why try?"

The will to rise had disappeared
All hope had fled away
So far behind; so error prone
A loser all the way.

"I've lost, so what's the use," he thought
"I'll live with my disgrace."
But, then he thought about his dad,
Who, soon, he'd have to face.

"Get up!" an echo sounded low,
"Get up, and take your place
You were not meant for failure here,
Get up, and win the race."

With borrowed will, "Get up," it said
"You haven't lost at all.
For winning is no more than this;
To rise each time you fall."

So, up he rose to run once more,
And with a new commit
He resolved that win, or lose,
At least he wouldn't quit.

So far behind the others now
- the most he'd ever been -
Still, he gave it all he had,
And ran as though to win.

Three times he'd fallen stumbling.
Three times he'd rose again.
Too far behind to hope to win
He still ran to the end.

They cheered the winning runner,
As he crossed the line first place,
Head high, and proud, and happy.
No falling, no disgrace.

But, when the fallen youngster
Crossed the line last place,
The crowd gave him the greater cheer
For finishing the race.

Even though he came in last.
With head bowed head low, unproud,
You would have thought he won the race
To listen to the crowd.

And to his dad, he sadly said,
"I didn't do so well."
"To me, you won!" his father said,
"You rose each time you fell."


And now when things seem dark and hard,
And difficult to face.
The memory of that little boy
Helps me to win my race.

For all of life is like that race
With ups and downs and all,
And all you have to do to win,
Is rise each time you fall.

"Start Where You Stand" by Berton Braley

Start where you stand and never mind the past; 

The past won't help you in beginning new, 

If you have left it all behind at last 

Why that's enough, you're done with it, you're through;

This is another chapter in the book, 

This is another race that you have planned, 

Don't give the vanished days a backwards look, 

Start where you stand.

The world won't care about your old defeats 

If you can start anew and win success; 

The future is your time, and time is fleet 

And there is much of work and strain and stress;

Forget the buried woes and dead despairs, 

Here is a brand-new trial right at hand, 

The future is for him who does and dares, 

Start where you stand.

Old failures will not hald, old triumphs aid, 

To-day's the thing, tomorrow will soon be; 

Get in the fight, and face it unafraid, 

And leave the past to ancient history.

What has been has been; yesterday is dead 

And by it, you are neither blessed or banned; 

Take courage, man, be brave and drive ahead, 

Start where you stand.

Failed Dreams

My dreams are like a book, way up on the shelf.

Far to high above me, for me to reach myself.

So I form a ladder, each rung a minor goal.

And slowly I get closer, through every step and pull.

But my arms get heavy, and I'm struggling to climb.

The book I thought was easy, is taking too much time.

Maybe it's not worth it, it's taking far too long.

I don't think I can reach it, maybe I was wrong.

And then I see below it, a book almost the same.

A few different colors with a slightly different name.

It's just a little lower, but still up so very high,

This book and the other could be brothers in my eye.

So I resume my climbing, excited at the change,

This one's a bit closer, and easily in range.

But that's quickly fleeting, there's so much more to go,

With all the work I've done I have nothing yet to show.

As I catch my breath, my gaze drops a little more,

who cares if it is lower, I've done it once before.

There's a book a little closer, I go for that instead,

Until the books I'm seeking are right above my head.

I reach out and touch it, and feel a little proud.

Until I look and see, that I'm barely off the ground.

I'm left to sit and wonder, what changed within myself,

As I stare with longing, at the book up on the shelf.

______________________________________________________________

Author Notes

I feel like my goals were set so high when I was a kid and I've steadily lowered them over the years for instant gratification. Now I'm nowhere near where I thought I'd be at and I have no one to blame but my own laziness. Don't lower your expectations because you get frustrated with your progress or get depressed, always give it your all because it's no one else's future but your own.

© Derek. All rights reserved

Believe the fire inside...

Prove them wrong...

Most motivational speech I get from people is I can't do something and I get inspired to prove them wrong. Yes I can do it...

Lost But Won

Things will always try to put you down, but its you, on whom it depends whether you accept it and go down or get up and fight like it is the only thing in life which will make you live, make you breath, make you out of the world....

Goal setting rules

There are several important rules that accompany effective goal setting.

First

Your goals must be in harmony with one another, not contradictory. You cannot have a goal to be financially successful, or to build your own successful business, and simultaneously have a goal to spend half your day at the golf course or at the beach. Your goals have to be mutually supportive and mutually reinforcing.

Second

Your goals must be challenging. They must make you stretch out without being overwhelmed. When you initially set goals, they should have about a 50 percent or better probability of success. This level of probability is ideal for motivation, yet not so difficult that you can become easily discouraged.

Third

You should have both tangible and intangible goals, both quantitative and qualitative. You should have concrete goals that you can measure and evaluate objectively. At the same time, you should have qualitative goals, for your inner life and your relationships.

Fourth

You need both short-term goals and long-term goals. You need goals for today and goals for five, ten, and twenty years from today. The ideal short-term time frame for business, career and personal planning is about ninety days. The ideal long-term period for these same goals is two to three years. These time horizons seem to be the ideal for continuous motivation.

Fifth

The ideal life is focused, purposeful, positive and organised so that you are moving toward goals that are important to you every hour of every day. You always know what you're doing and why. You have a continuous sense of forward motion. You feel like a 'winner' most of the time.

Sixth

The decision to become a goal-setting, goal achieving, future focused person gives you a tremendous sense of control. Your self-esteem increases as you progress toward your goals. You like and respect yourself more and more. Your personality improves and you become a more positive, confident person. You feel happy and exited about life. You open the floodgates of your potential and begin moving faster and faster toward becoming all that you were meant to be.

Action Exercise

Map out your short-term, long-term, qualitative, and quantitative goals for your future in both your personal and professional life.

Written by Brian Tracy