09 Jun 2011, Posted by Isaac in nondescript, 0 Comments

Choose

In 2001 I completed the Los Angeles Marathon. At 255 pounds, I had to be one of the biggest participants in the race!It was 2.5 months before the race when I decided to commit to a training regimen and run the marathon. So, I was running a lot around Southern California.  And when I started doing long runs that are over 2 hours, I began to question my sanity!

Race day came and 30,000 people started running 26.2 miles. The course was lined with spectators! They were so excited to see so many people willing to slap pavement for a few hours! I noticed that as I came around around a corner, people’s cheering would drop about an octave and their encouragement sounded a bit more serious.  Yay! Yay! Go Runners! became Hang in there big guy.  We hope you survive.

As I ran I noticed many slim and fit people cheering and not racing.  Looking back, it strikes me: I was committed to what I chose to be committed to.  Finishing that race had little to do with my abilities and the spectator’s not finishing that race had nothing to do with their abilities and everything to do with their commitments.

And so, I make the observation: We are all committed to what we’ve chosen to commit to. Not one of us is uncommitted, we are fully invested into what we’ve chosen to commit to.

As a friend of mine says, “every system is perfectly designed to get the results its getting.”

What are the results of your life? Are you satisfied? If not, than what are you committed to? How can you choose differently?

Maybe you’ll find yourself lumbering down the boulevards of life experiencing greatness not based upon your abilities, but upon your willingness to choose your commitments.