here is some encouragement,
"Quit! Give up! You're beaten!"
They shout at me and plead.
"There's just too much against you now.
This time you can't succeed."
And as I start to hang my head
In front of failure's face,
My downward fall is broken by
The memory of race
And hope refills my weakened will
As I recall that scene:
For just the thought of that short race
Rejuvenates my being
II
A children's race - young boys, young men
How I remember well
Excitement, sure! But also fear:
It wasn't hard to tell
They all lined up so full of hope
Each thought to win that race
Or tie for first, or if not that,
At least take second place
And fathers watched from off the side
Each cheering for his son.
And each boy hoped to show his dad
That he would be the one.
The whistle blew and off they went
Young hearts and hopes afire
To wind and be the here there
Was each young boy's desire
And one boy in particular
Whose dad was in the crowd
Was running in the lead and thought:
"My dad will be so proud!"
But as they speeded down the field
Across a shallow dip
The little who thought to win
Lost his step and slipped
Trying hard to catch himself
His hands flew out to brace.
Amid the laughter of the crowd
He fell flat on his face
So down he fell and with him hope
He couldn't win it now
Embarrassed, sad, he only wished
To disappears somehow
But as he fell his dad stood up
And showed his anxious face,
Which to the boy so clearly said:
"Get up and win the race."
He quickly rose, no damage done,
Behind a bit, that's all
And ran with all his mind and might
To make up for his fall
So anxious to restore himself
To catch up and to win
His mind went faster than his legs:
He slipped and fell again!
He wished then he had quit before
With only one disgrace;
"I'm hopeless as a runner know;
I shouldn't try to race."
But in the laughing crowd he searched
And found his father's face;
That steady look which said again:
"Get up and win the race!"
So up he jumped to try again
Ten yards behind the last
"If I'm to gain those yards," he thought,
"I've got to move real fast."
Exerting everything he had
He regained eight or ten,
But trying so hard to catch the lead
He slipped and fell again!
Defeat! He lied there silently
A tear dropped from his eye
"There's no sense running anymore:
Three strikes: I'm out! Why try!"
The will to raise had disappeared:
All hope had fled away;
So far behind, so error-prone;
A loser all the way
"I've lost, so what's the use," he thought
"I'll live with my disgrace."
But when he thought about his dad
Who soon he'd had to face
"Get up," an echo sounded low
"Get up and take your place;
You were not meant for failure here.
get up and win the race."
"With borrowed will get up," it said,
"You haven't lost it all.
For winning is no more than this;
To rise each time you fall."
So up he rose to run once more,
And with a new commit
He resolved that win or lose
At least he wouldn't quit.
So far behind the others now
The most he'd ever been
Still he gave it all he had
And ran as though to win
Three times he'd fallen, stumbling;
Three times he'd rose again;
Too far behind to hope to win
He still ran to the end
They cheered the winning runner
As he crossed the line first place
Head high, and proud, and happy;
No falling, no disgrace
But when the fallen youngster
Crossed the line last place,
The crowd gave him the greater cheer,
For finishing the race
And even though he came in last
With head bowed low, unproud,
You would have thought he'd won the race
To listen to the crowd.
And to his dad he sadly said
"I didn't do too well."
"To me, you won," his father said.
"You rose each time you fell."
III
And now when things seem dark and hard
And difficult to face
The memory of that little boy
Helps me in the race
For all of life is like that race,
With ups and downs and all
And all you have to do to win
Is rise each time you fall.
"Quit! Give up! You're beaten!"
They still shout in my face
But another voice within me says:
"Get up and win the race!"
Some proverbs
"You'll never arrive as number one, if you only walk in the footsteps of others"
"Live your day so that you sleep well at night"
"Wisdom is knowing when to speak your mind and when to mind your speech"
"A word of encouragement can make the difference between giving up and going on."
"To ease another's burden, help to carry it."
"Talk the way you would like to be, and you will be the way you talk."
"When troubles are great, turn to the sun, and the shadows will fall behind you."
"Winners never quit, and quitters never win."
"Obstacles are those frightening things you see when you take your eyes off the goal"
"A problem is something you can do something about. If you can't, it is not your problem."
"The only time you can't afford to fail is the last time you try."
"Learn to listen. Opportunity sometimes knocks very softly."
"Don't major in minor things."
"Think big thoughts, but relish small pleasures."
"It's not the hours you put in, but what you put in the hours, that counts."
"Judge your success by the degree of which you're enjoying peace, health and love."
"A man travels the world in search of what he needs, and returns home to find it"
