Sunday Missive; Running Your Own Race

Early last Sunday morning, many Kenyans stayed awake cheering on Eliud Kipchoge as he made Olympic Marathon history by winning back-to-back gold.

I was among them.

To many Kenyans, the race ended with the Kipchoge win. I stayed on.

Thirty-six minutes later, Zarco Alvarez from Honduras trudged in, the last of the athletes to finish the marathon at position 76. About thirty others, including a Kenyan favorite for a medal, had dropped off.

For long periods, the cameras focused on this guy, running alone, periodically checking on his watch, the only concern being his personal best time.

He clocked two hours, forty-four minutes, and thirty-six seconds.

As I celebrated Kipchoge, I totally admired this guy.

To me, he was even a bigger winner in himself than the decorated athletes, including our own.

The lessons he exemplified were more valuable than the win-loss mentality the competition elevated.

A not-so-kind commentator even snidely suggested that by the time he finished, the Kenyan (Kipchoge) had probably showered, gotten his gold medal, and was on his way back to Nairobi by the time Zarco finished.

But what caught my attention and prompted this reflection was the purposeful racing Zarco did. He wasn’t there for the gold, clearly.

He had a purpose: racing against himself and bettering his previous performances.

Reminds me of an all-time best read I immensely cherish, ‘The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. In this masterpiece, the writer tries to answer the question, ‘what on earth am I here for?’, and superbly drives home the point of STARTING ON PURPOSE WITH THE END IN MIND.

(Btw, I gave this book to someone and s/he never returned it. If you are reading this and you hold this gem, my library needs it. But I digress…)

Zarcos race brought this back. In my view, he started the race with the end in mind: to complete the race in the best time possible. Winning against the world was clearly not his motivation.

And if it came, well, so be it; it will be a collateral advantage.

What a profound personal challenge?

Many times we run the race of life against others or something. The pressure to conform is immense much as we can’t quite point out who makes these standards.

You have to finish school at a certain age, marry like everybody else at a certain point – with children coming as ‘expected’- and make some career progressions by an expected time.

What about that investment in that neighborhood like all your peers? Family holidays like your friends? Children to certain schools like your buddies?

People have made serious blunders in life by comparative living, running other peoples races, especially family, friends, and peers.

How many people are in debt, borrowing to live an artificial life in order to conform to certain images?

When you live for others, when will you live your purpose?

All of us have a God-given purpose in this life, individually and collectively. But many people abdicate that purpose in a race against others to prove points and conform.

That’s why people kill, maim, subjugate, slander, scheme, connive against others to gain undue advantage to ‘stay ahead of the pack’. This leads to an incorrigible and senseless accumulation of money and material things.

Reminds me of former United States President Barrack Obama in his keynote speech at the Nelson Mandela memorial a couple of years ago.

He openly wondered how much is enough in reference to African leaders who steal from their impoverished countries, piling up ill-gotten wealth in foreign accounts, benefitting those countries as their fellow Africans suffer.

They kill, scheme, and connive to maintain the status quo to perpetuate and protect their illicit accumulations.

Just how much does one human being need in this life?

If these characters were running their own race, perhaps only against ethical and value systems, they would make their countries such beautiful places to live; where their citizens do not have to brave humiliating experiences trying to get visas out of their own countries, and even worse conditions when they get ‘out there.

Sometimes I wonder…are these fellows competing with God to own the earth?

Our circumstances are different.

Stay your course. Know your place and stick to your lane. Seek and explore your purpose.

Have your own paced Sunday and a great week ahead.

(Feedback to gkimando@gmail.com)