"I keep on running so that I stand where I am". Hold on!! Don't come to a conclusion that this blog is about treadmill :P. This is one of my all-time favorite quotes which everyone can relate to. Its such a competitive world out there that you have to be constantly running in order to avoid being stranded. Yes, "Life is indeed a marathon". The world has been compared to innumerable things by the great minds of all ages. But according to me nothing can beat the one by Shakespeare's "As You Like It"
All the world's a stage and all men and women merely actors.
Inspired by that I came up with a similar one for life
All the life's a marathon and all men and women merely runners. The field may be different but the running stays the same
I AM GOING TO QUIT! That's it. I can't take it any longer. I am getting out of this situation. I'm tired of the struggle and the meaningless effort that I'm putting in into this. Does it really matter if I complete this or not? This is the last one. After this, I QUIT!.. Everyone of us would have felt these at some point of time in our life and at some point of time in our race
Each of us is running in a race "life’s marathon". I am so thankful that there’s not just one winner in the race we are running. Everyone who finishes is a winner. As we run life’s race we are surrounded by scores of fellow runners who witness our endurance and persistence. These are the ones who’ve gone before us and completed the race.
There are many similarities in training for and running a marathon, and life itself. The basic fact, of course, is this—one is 26.2 miles and takes between two and six hours to complete and the other can take several decades.
For both, one needs focused training, discipline, and some basic tools. And in both, the biggest prize is the self-esteem of having done something well. To be sure, there are lows and highs. There is no such thing as an easy marathon and the same applies to life. Neither can be coursed through without training.
We need a holistic approach for both. We need to run, stretch, build muscle, manage nutrition, wear the right gear, follow a good training regimen, run in different weather and terrain conditions, etc. to prepare for a marathon. And we need to be well-rounded individuals, with a sharp mind and a large heart, with varied interests and the ability to cope with tough circumstances to ultimately “win” the marathon of life. These are the lessons for life that we can draw from running a marathon
• Raise your abilities to the heights of your goals rather than lower your goals based on your abilities.
• Accept that you will never always feel on top of the world.
• Sometimes to do better or run faster, we need to slow down or rest.
• There is no stretch goal that is impossible, it may just be tough, or need a bit more focus.
• The mind is more important than matter for many stretch goals.
• There is no one single solution to a problem. Things have to be viewed holistically and then acted upon individually.
• A unidimensional achievement often undermines achievement in the broader canvas.
Finally, one more derivative from Shakespeare's words that can be modified and applied to marathon
"Rose is a rose is a rose" can be slightly altered to "Race is a race is a race"
All the world's a stage and all men and women merely actors.
Inspired by that I came up with a similar one for life
All the life's a marathon and all men and women merely runners. The field may be different but the running stays the same
I AM GOING TO QUIT! That's it. I can't take it any longer. I am getting out of this situation. I'm tired of the struggle and the meaningless effort that I'm putting in into this. Does it really matter if I complete this or not? This is the last one. After this, I QUIT!.. Everyone of us would have felt these at some point of time in our life and at some point of time in our race
Each of us is running in a race "life’s marathon". I am so thankful that there’s not just one winner in the race we are running. Everyone who finishes is a winner. As we run life’s race we are surrounded by scores of fellow runners who witness our endurance and persistence. These are the ones who’ve gone before us and completed the race.
There are many similarities in training for and running a marathon, and life itself. The basic fact, of course, is this—one is 26.2 miles and takes between two and six hours to complete and the other can take several decades.
For both, one needs focused training, discipline, and some basic tools. And in both, the biggest prize is the self-esteem of having done something well. To be sure, there are lows and highs. There is no such thing as an easy marathon and the same applies to life. Neither can be coursed through without training.
We need a holistic approach for both. We need to run, stretch, build muscle, manage nutrition, wear the right gear, follow a good training regimen, run in different weather and terrain conditions, etc. to prepare for a marathon. And we need to be well-rounded individuals, with a sharp mind and a large heart, with varied interests and the ability to cope with tough circumstances to ultimately “win” the marathon of life. These are the lessons for life that we can draw from running a marathon
• Raise your abilities to the heights of your goals rather than lower your goals based on your abilities.
• Accept that you will never always feel on top of the world.
• Sometimes to do better or run faster, we need to slow down or rest.
• There is no stretch goal that is impossible, it may just be tough, or need a bit more focus.
• The mind is more important than matter for many stretch goals.
• There is no one single solution to a problem. Things have to be viewed holistically and then acted upon individually.
• A unidimensional achievement often undermines achievement in the broader canvas.
Finally, one more derivative from Shakespeare's words that can be modified and applied to marathon
"Rose is a rose is a rose" can be slightly altered to "Race is a race is a race"
4 comments:
I agree with everything you say about improving our struggle towards life's goals, but I don't think life can be compared to a race..
If we try to live as if we are running a race, we would forget to live! I think in terms of life, it's the journey that matters rather than the finish line (which is often the motivation in a race)
quite a description of marathons....i learnt how to prepare well for it now, though i really doubt if i will ever really take part out of sheer laziness.
The analogy between race(marathon) & life is perhaps relatable to ppl who have experienced the same.
Neverthess, the post is exceedingly well-written with good use of language often missing in the recent blogs I have visited
yet again nice one vikram. I too agree with you especially on what you have written on the bullet points at the last.
Learn from the mistakes and keep the race (life) alive
cheers
palaniappan
A very well written blog. A simple message conveyed very beautifully..yes, life is like a marathon, the longest race one can ever run in his/her lifetime!
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