Apr
25
a life worth duplicating
Filed Under life, trials | Leave a Comment
I’ve been on break since Wednesday of last week. It’s been a nice reprieve from the rigors of school. Although, I have to admit, this last semester was not as difficult as it could have been. Having split my second semester on the island when Hannah was born, this semester was a perfect load for having a family. I was able to spend some quality time with Emily and Hannah. I’ll look back on this past semester with fondness.
Yesterday, I was lounging around the house and noticed a movie was just starting. Intrigued, I watched it for a few minutes. It looked like it was set in the early 1970′s. I looked it up on TVGuide.com (yes, Emily, TVGuide.com) to see what it was. It turns out it was a movie about a guy named Steve Prefontaine named Without Limits. I wasn’t able to watch every second of the movie, but it was one of the most inspiring stories I’ve ever seen. This genre of movies, unbelievable sports stories, is full of miraculous people or teams overcoming great odds to be the best in their respective fields. The application of this man’s desire and drive reach all areas of life. He was truly an extraordinary man. In reading more about him, I came across several quotes that were very inspiring:
To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift.
A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more.
A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways as they’re capable of understanding.
I’m going to work so that it’s a pure guts race at the end, and if it is, I am the only one who can win it.
Someone may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it.
The only good race pace is suicide pace, and today looks like a good day to die.
I think this man ended his life with few regrets. He obviously left the world wanting more. A life like this can only give hope and inspiration to those who know the story. He has certainly inspired me . . . and he died two months before I was born.