Finishing Line, Not Finishing Time

‘Town runners. Finishing Line, Not Finishing Time’. This was the tagline on the back of a yellow t-shirt that a lady in front of me wore while I was on my morning walk. The phrase, ‘finishing line, not finishing time struck a chord with me.

Many of us have been conditioned to think that there is no point in trying unless we can win the race so we rule ourselves out of many opportunities when doors open. There are people who refuse to go to the gym because they think they are out of shape so they rule themselves out of something that can help them get the results they desperately need.

We live in a competitive world where too many are brainwashed and believe that winning is all that counts and they need to win no matter what it takes. We have lost sight of when participation alone can make all the difference. The tag line of the Town running team was a stark reminder that taking part in the race was what mattered most.

In my town, there is a 5k walk every Saturday and people of all ages and ability take part from triathlon competitors, marathon runners, parents with children in their prams, less-abled people on their scooters, elderly people being ferried around in their wheelchairs and children of all ages. Some people run the distance while others walk it fast with many chatting with friends and neighbours whilst doing a slower pace. The organisers wait until every last person crosses the finishing line and get the recognition for participation in that week’s event. People leave happy, joyful and proud of their achievements.

The benefits of this include the health side, making new friends, getting fresh air, being out of the home, combating loneliness, business networking and the list goes on. In this scenario, not taking part because of concerns of not beating the winning time leads to a loss of these benefits.

In life, taking part is what counts as we won’t win every race we enter into; we must know how to leverage every opportunity and do the best that we can. Life in itself is made up of series of what feels like competitions; a child sees and starts to emulate adults to get their first words out, they see adults get up and walk and the child attempts to do the same until they take their first step and this continues through school, work and for the rest of their lives.

A desire to want to ‘do and be’ is ingrained in all of us and it is the basis for growth and continuous improvement. This desire can be channelled in a positive or negative way.

Many people have an unhealthy competitive streak forgetting there is a difference between winning at any cost and winning against all odds. We need to have a healthy relationship with competition as the right competition is good competition. Good competition is when you take daily steps to be and do better than previous day.

Winning against all odds happens as a result of one not giving up even when challenges are stacked against us, when the ducks are not lined up in a row or when intentional obstacles are thrown in our paths. Winning against all odds happens when we refuse to stay down even after falling; it happens when we don’t lose sight of the finishing line.

Winning at any cost can come with disastrous consequences and unintended outcomes. It makes us cut corners, lose sight of the impact of our actions on ourselves, others and our communities. Winning at any cost encourages unethical behaviours and choices with possible criminality. It’s what makes people to enter into illegal business dealings even when they know the end result could be people’s lives being put at risk.

Winning at any cost requires over-bloated egos and a sense of entitlement to always being the winner. Who says you have to beat everyone else to win? Who says you have to step on others to thrive? Who says you have to seek the downfall of others to succeed?

We must learn to win because our input, hard work and expected actions naturally translate to those results not because we cheated, bribed our ways, illegally forced out competitors, or committed atrocities to do so.

Finishing line versus finishing time, which will it be? Finishing line encourages all of us to get involved in this race called life and means we don’t give up if a stage is tougher than another stage. There will be races you sprint through and win that phase, there will be some you jog through because your energy level is up and down, there will be some you might need to crawl your way through and battle for your life.

Focus on going until you reach your finishing line and let others pass you because you might pass them at another stage of their journey. You are unaware of their full picture so competing with them is pointless as they may be slower in an area outside of your view.

I am not discarding the importance of ‘finishing times’ in competitions as medals need to be awarded and we have professional athletes who need this to drive them to excellence but it also drives others to use performance enhancing drugs and be banned from a sport they love. Ultimately, ‘Finishing time’ is still about having a healthy view of our participation in competitions.

For life in general, a focus on crossing the finishing line will serve most of us better than an unhealthy relationship with finishing time.

Thanks for reading my post. I would appreciate you sharing this with others to help them too. See you next week.