Striving towards Excellence

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Yesterday, My wife Shobana and I ran the OC Marathon. We did the half marathon and it was lot of fun. Totally about 16, 000 people participated and out of that 4,921 finished it. It was a fantastic experience running the 13 mile stretch and meeting different kinds of people who participated in this event. This time, Shobana and I did not train for this event. When we do it next time, Shobana and I would be lot more prepared for this event. Our goal was to complete it and we were glad that we did it.

Several years ago, Parade magazine carried a story about Olympic marathon runner John Akhwari from Tanzania. During the '68 Olympic games, Akhwari was the last runner to finish the grueling 26-mile race. His leg was bloodied and bandaged because he had fallen and severely injured his knee. When he painfully hobbled across the finish line, a reporter approached him and asked why he hadn't quit. He said " My country did not send me (here) to start the race. They sent me to finish."

Akhwari stayed focused on the end result-finishing the race- rather than the fact that his injury ruined his chances of winning. If he had given his attention to the challenge rather than the finish line, he would have given up on the race. You must have the same attitude when it comes to completing those things you've set your mind to accomplish. Even it looks impossible or negative situations arise, make a decision to complete the task at hand. It is not enough to set goals for yourself, if you fail to complete the steps necessary to achieve those goals.

Shobana and I witnessed so many people quitting within 100 yards of the finish line. Many people have dreams and visions that never materialize because they're not committed to completing them, and it isn't uncommon for people to start things that they never finish. Don't let distractions, complacency and hardships keep you from success: Commit to completion in everything you undertake.