Five Life Lessons from Track Meets

My youngest daughter, Colette, had her first JV track meet of the season on Tuesday. She was very excited & nervous, but she had been training and was excited about being a returning sophomore – not the youngest in JV this year.

I love track season. This is our third year with our daughters running track and I must admit that I balked at letting them join at first. I was so burned out from the basketball season, but Kinza begged me, so I finally relented. And boy am I glad. I think running track is one of the best parallels for life lessons, though all sports have their life lessons built in. That is for sure.

Lesson 1: You get out exactly what you put in. If you spend time training and trying to beat your personal best, you will do well.

Lesson 2: Beating your personal best is your ever-present goal. Sure, there are lots of competitors out there that you want to beat, but running track really emphasizes doing your best for you.

Lesson 3: Finish what you start. It’s easy to start – much harder to finish. I remember one meet for the 3200 meter run for guys. Runner number six and number seven crossed the finish line, and number eight, the last one, came jogging around the bend. The official held up 3 fingers – the poor guy had three more laps to go and everyone else had finished! I felt so proud of him

when he persevered those final three laps – solo. You should have heard the applause. Gives me chills just remembering it.

Lesson 4 – Focus on the goal. A runner really has to have focus to filter out noises all around him.

Lesson 5 – Anyone who gets in the race is a winner. Strength of character is shown by each student by entering the race. After all, someone IS going to come in last. In my book, they are all winners.

So how did Colette do? She tied for first place in the 55 meter dash. She and her teams got first place in the 4 lap and 6 lap relays! What a boost for Colette! I think of Eric Liddle’s quote from Chariots of Fire: “God made me fast. I feel God’s pleasure when I run!”

Each of us can feel God’s pleasure when we are running the race that He has marked out for us – using the gifts & passions He has put in our hearts.

When we work in our strengths, we are energized. What are you passionate about in this race of life?

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