Any triathlon video on the internet contains 2 components: The start of the race with all of the swimmers...and the finish line.
A 17 hour ironman race is compressed into 3 minutes.
Can you imagine if this were life? The only thing that people would be reminded of is the day you were born and the day that you died?
There is much to be said about the victories and struggles in life and how we handle them...just as it is so in a triathlon.
For the bulk majority of a triathlon, there is nobody there. There are no cameras, no spectators, and no encouragement. At many times along the course, there aren't even any competitors. It is just you with many miles behind you and many miles in front of you and nobody to tell you what to do.
Thats right...it is just you and the waging war inside your head between your personal smiles and your personal cries. And this is what makes each time you race different from the last. Different demons, different challenges. Different triumphs. Different day.
As you keep pushing on your pedals, every muscle and thought is telling you to just give up. Just stop pedalling. Just get off the bike. Just walk for a while. You've done enough already. There is nobody in sight...nobody will have to know. Take it easy.
Yes. Satan throws everything at you, just as he did Eve, and just as he did Jesus. Satan has no problem with this race. He registered before you and he didn't even need to train. He has a lot more endurance than you, he is stronger than you, and he is smarter than you. He was second to God. You are just a little man. Who are you to challenge him? Not even the arch-angel Michael would say anything bad about him. Why should you? In fact, if he says something, you should do it...He knows better than you...
...It is like jumping into a swimming pool of your worst thoughts and hoping that they don't dunk your head under water.
This is out of the frame of cameras and out of the frame of spectators. The only person that sees it is you. It is a long ride and a long run...and it is a lot of time that you need to deal with your own personal issues and have nobody to lean on.
So why do you continue? Satan's arguments actually make complete sense...but why do you continue? Why do you fight Satan who is telling you not to fight anymore? Why do you continue running, even though every step you tell yourself to just walk? Why do you keep cranking the same hard gear even though every pedal you tell yourself to shift to a lighter gear? Why do you fight satan...just to continue fighting other things? Just stop fighting and go home.
Each race and each person is different. A man can go through the race with a flat expression on his face and he is able keep all of his negative thoughts at bay. He tackles them as they come and he keeps on moving like a tank through a battle field. Spectators find him as boring, but inside, he is fighting a glorius battle. The victory at the finish line isn't exciting to the camera and viewers, but inside his heart the victory is probably much stronger and means so much more.
The same man in the next race can get that one negative thought in their head, "What if something happened to your family...". "You know...finishing this race doesn't change the fact that you are overweight and lazy...". Once that one thought is planted, it is a ferocious battle to get it to leave...And this time, the thought triumphs. Satan has won and same solid man last race is now a mess. They have forced him to walk...to slow down...to question himself and everything that he has known to be true. It can draw tears, and it can cause agony and no spectators or cameras ever see it...just like Satan said it would be.
Perhaps he'll just stop and quit. Perhaps he will dig deeper down into himself than he has ever gone before and find a new spark to change the tides of the war. The outcome is different for each person and each race.
A 17 hour ironman race is compressed into 3 minutes.
Can you imagine if this were life? The only thing that people would be reminded of is the day you were born and the day that you died?
There is much to be said about the victories and struggles in life and how we handle them...just as it is so in a triathlon.
For the bulk majority of a triathlon, there is nobody there. There are no cameras, no spectators, and no encouragement. At many times along the course, there aren't even any competitors. It is just you with many miles behind you and many miles in front of you and nobody to tell you what to do.
Thats right...it is just you and the waging war inside your head between your personal smiles and your personal cries. And this is what makes each time you race different from the last. Different demons, different challenges. Different triumphs. Different day.
As you keep pushing on your pedals, every muscle and thought is telling you to just give up. Just stop pedalling. Just get off the bike. Just walk for a while. You've done enough already. There is nobody in sight...nobody will have to know. Take it easy.
Yes. Satan throws everything at you, just as he did Eve, and just as he did Jesus. Satan has no problem with this race. He registered before you and he didn't even need to train. He has a lot more endurance than you, he is stronger than you, and he is smarter than you. He was second to God. You are just a little man. Who are you to challenge him? Not even the arch-angel Michael would say anything bad about him. Why should you? In fact, if he says something, you should do it...He knows better than you...
...It is like jumping into a swimming pool of your worst thoughts and hoping that they don't dunk your head under water.
This is out of the frame of cameras and out of the frame of spectators. The only person that sees it is you. It is a long ride and a long run...and it is a lot of time that you need to deal with your own personal issues and have nobody to lean on.
So why do you continue? Satan's arguments actually make complete sense...but why do you continue? Why do you fight Satan who is telling you not to fight anymore? Why do you continue running, even though every step you tell yourself to just walk? Why do you keep cranking the same hard gear even though every pedal you tell yourself to shift to a lighter gear? Why do you fight satan...just to continue fighting other things? Just stop fighting and go home.
Each race and each person is different. A man can go through the race with a flat expression on his face and he is able keep all of his negative thoughts at bay. He tackles them as they come and he keeps on moving like a tank through a battle field. Spectators find him as boring, but inside, he is fighting a glorius battle. The victory at the finish line isn't exciting to the camera and viewers, but inside his heart the victory is probably much stronger and means so much more.
The same man in the next race can get that one negative thought in their head, "What if something happened to your family...". "You know...finishing this race doesn't change the fact that you are overweight and lazy...". Once that one thought is planted, it is a ferocious battle to get it to leave...And this time, the thought triumphs. Satan has won and same solid man last race is now a mess. They have forced him to walk...to slow down...to question himself and everything that he has known to be true. It can draw tears, and it can cause agony and no spectators or cameras ever see it...just like Satan said it would be.
Perhaps he'll just stop and quit. Perhaps he will dig deeper down into himself than he has ever gone before and find a new spark to change the tides of the war. The outcome is different for each person and each race.
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