friday quotation

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.
~Muhammad Ali

I read this quotation before I left for CDA.
I honestly forgot about this quotation while I was in CDA.
Or so I thought.
Because now it's reminding me of a conversation I had with a woman on the run course. I was finishing up my last loop, grateful to be headed "home", and I asked her if she was finishing, too. She replied, "No. I still have one more loop to go. And I think I'm about to get pulled off the course." I looked at her and said, "Well, don't take yourself off the course. Wait until they come and get you." She said, "Oh, they are going to have to drag me off the course kicking and screaming." I laughed and said, "That's the spirit. You know, at least you got out here and tried." She didn't miss a beat and said, "Oh, I made it 80 more miles than I ever thought I would so I'm actually pretty happy." I paused for a minute and said, "Well, then congratulations. You know most people don't even have the courage to start. But you did, and really, you deserve a medal for that." She smiled warmly and said, "Thanks. I never thought of it that way." And with a "Good luck" I trotted off...a little more inspired to finish. In a way for her and for me.
Funny, as I write this, I think that is the point at which I was really able to pick up my pace and finish in a strong way. For her. For everyone back home. For everyone at camp and around the country who was watching for me. And, yes, for me, too. But I needed something bigger than myself at that point to finish - it was too easy to let myself off the hook in that moment, even though I knew I'd have a tough time forgiving myself if I did.
But somewhere between miles 20 and 21, that woman who probably didn't get to finish reminded me that sometimes the victory is just in having tried. Too often I (we?) don't do things because we fear that we might fail. So instead of seeing what we might be able to do (in all aspects of our lives), we don't even get started. I wonder how much I've missed in this world because I didn't take that first step. I hope I don't miss too much more...