Running Your Own Race: Not Necessarily an Essay About Running
As the runners gather behind the starting line, anticipation hangs in the air. Athletes and non-athletes alike of all stripes commence their pre-race rituals—rolling their heads, skip-kicking their own behinds, calibrating watch settings, or doing nothing at all.
Silence falls over the crowd that is then—crack!— shattered by the starting pistol. The masses bolt forward, driving knees into their chests as though miles do not lay ahead.
You, a new runner, getting swept up in this stampede, pick up your own pace. As more runners fly past as though you're walking, you give into the urge to tail the runner in front of you and become dedicated to letting no more runners scream past. Perhaps you can surf this wave of runners and obtain a new personal best time in this distance.
But as your lungs turn into strobe lights in your chest and your legs burn, this ceases to feel like surfing a wave and more like attempting to outswim one. You collapse to the side of the course, wondering what the hell you were thinking.
For this reason, new runners—and anyone, really—are encouraged to "run your own race." Come to a race with your goals and plan of attack. So what if people are flying past you? Perhaps they'll be the ones buckled over on the side of the road next. Perhaps they'll win, but have a miserable time doing so. As long as you "run your own race,” this will means that no matter where you rank, for you, the race will be a success.
While this is fantastic race advice for any runner or racer of any kind, this is even better advice for something else: just, you know—life.
Redefining Sucess
Few of us sit and think about what the word "success" means to us. For the most part, when someone describes someone as "successful," this just means that they have earned a large sum of money. However, for a Jesuit who has taken a vow of poverty, earning a large sum of money would make them a failure. This should inspire us to take a step outside of society's definition of success and consider our own litmus test for success.
Maybe our definition of success is not as simple as monetary gain, but should instead extend to attributes like charity, fulfilling work, growth, contentment, brotherhood, sisterhood, motherhood, fatherhood, civic duty, and the like.
We owe it to ourselves to not only determine our goals for the mortal race of life but also to design our own race from the ground up.
Comparison
Comparison is not only the thief of joy but the wave we attempt to outswim. Regarding the running of our own race, comparison not only assumes we know that we are (a.) the same caliber runner as the soul we're attempting to draft or pass, but also (b.), that we're both running the same race. Hell, they may be running a 5k while you are beginning an ultra-marathon.
Here's a rough sketch for applying this metaphor for living an intentional life.
1. Plot Your Own Course
Running your own race can also mean plotting your own course. What would you consider to be a race worth running? Is it about performance, accomplishment, enjoyment, or personal fulfillment—others be damned?
2. Make Your Race Goal
Some people set race goals such as a specific time, a placement on the podium, or qualifying for an even bigger race. Some just want to enjoy the race. Others still just want to complete and finish the race.
For your life, just like a race, define what "success" means to you—your goal. Financial gain? Lives touched? Simplicity maintained? The happiness of your children? Remember these are your goals—not those expected of you by people with their own goals.
3. Make Your Race Plan
Once you know what "success" means to you, devise a plan of execution. A racer who wants to complete a certain distance race in a certain amount of time needs to devise what pace to maintain. You will need to consider what it will mean for you to be a more charitable person, a better friend, a more attentive spouse, parent, or even boss.
4. Stick To Your Plan to Run Your Own Race
Once you have your plan devised and mapped out, stick to it. Racers will come flying by and you'll be tempted to keep up with them out of the gate. They may come flying past in expensive cars or want to show you pictures from their latest vacation that may or may not have been paid for with plastic. Remember that may not be part of your plan. Stick to your own pace, your technique, and stay true to keep the promises you made to yourself in the design phase of your race plotting and goal design.
5. Reset as Necessary
Your race performance may begin to suck sometimes—not due to bad execution, but a bad plan. Maybe you need to reset and try again. Perhaps your goals for your race or even the race itself need to be retooled to jive with your spirit. This is fine as long as you are remaining true to yourself and not simply letting yourself off the hook.
On your mark. Get set. Live.