For many competitors, the usual outcome is not winning. They may have brought their best. They may have looked competitive, putting everything on the line, yet still not on top. As I watched, the interest overwhelmed Kimba to the point that he could not sit and watch from a distance. He got as close as he could, excited as the action played out (or at least the colours dancing). The drama playing out in the heart of an avid F1 fan was easy to imagine. As two former winners topped the speed charts, sage advice lingered silently in the air. “Crying is better than laughing. It blotches the face, but it scours the heart.” (Ecclesiastes 7.3)
As I watched, smiled, and considered Life’s whispers in the background of F1 qualifying, the observations have lingered into the start of a new day.
Life is not a competition. I know that accumulated things of value are used to measure life. I suggest these are false measures. I cannot take them with me into the darkness of the night. I can bring my relationships, the memories of love and compassion. I can relive the words shared, the compassion given, and the care expressed. When experienced, special rooms within my heart and soul become their permanent residence.
Results inform and educate, yet they are not the final goal. As the leaderboard changed, I found myself considering the reason I am here. I have compared living to racing, wanting to go fast and be the first. In understanding what winning in life is, I find myself coming back to the moment I have. In this moment, compassion can come alive. In the next step that I take, I can care and make a difference. So much is possible in the words I share, the decisions I take, and the actions that follow. With each, I write my story of life. Results are simply the reflection of the event. A distraction to awareness, learning, and preparation that is underway within me for my next moment.
Life is something we can all “win”.
