By Samuel Ufot Ekekere
The commonwealth games have begun, and half of the world is focused on Glasgow, Scotland. Athletes across seventy-one countries are each aiming for the chance to get a gold medal, and every country wants a gold haul. Participating athletes understand the magnitude of the occasion. Their goal is gold. The huge task of the competition often takes the athletes months, even years, of preparation.
What’s your competition? You have a competition in life that you have to win. The hassles of life are every day competitions that you come against. Like athletes, you also have to prepare to face these hurdles.
How do you prepare? Life’s learning ground is huge, with lessons every step of the way. These lessons are meant to build you into a better athlete and prepare you for future challenges. In the beginning, it often seems too great a hurdle to climb. Think of the difficulty of running 400 meters for the first time. Your body runs out of energy before you reach the 200 meter mark, but the more you run, the faster you become and the easier the race.
In life, the more you persist, the easier you get over your challenges. Every challenge you face is a stepping stone to future glory. By keeping your gait tied to the goal with determination, persistence, and diligence, you soon discover your difficult hurdles becoming easy.
Think of life as a competition and you’ll have good reason to get up and going. That’s what athletes do. They come to the games with a competitive mindset. They are there to challenge. For them, every other athlete is an adversary who has to succumb to their prowess.
They acknowledge that the only proof of their superior ability is when they challenge and defeat other athletes in competitions. You too are absolutely gifted, but the only proof is if you get up there and go up against those as gifted as you are. You may be a self-acclaimed champion, but that’s not enough. Boost your confidence by challenging others who you acknowledge are as talented as you are.
Looking at the medals table of any athletic event, you would observe the importance placed on gold. A team may have just two gold medals and another may have one gold and ten silver medals making a total of eleven medals but the team with two gold medals is ranked higher than the latter. Have you ever asked why? The reason is the gold value. If its not gold, it cannot be gold. One gold is superior to 100 silvers.
The organizers of these events put the grand value on Gold because they want the athletes putting all their best in pursuit of it. The life lesson here is that you have to set your eyes on the grand prize. Only excellence is considered valuable. You might be good, very good, but the desirable quality is excellence.
Records are created in competitions such as this one. Some athletes create world records, some continental records, others national records and some personal best records. What record are you creating? Attaining excellence is great, but doing it in a sensational style is very inspiring. Push to break every known standard and create your own standard. Do everything you do with a standard creating mindset, and you will often find others pushing behind you.
The number of medals individuals are able to accrue measures the overall success of a team. An athlete only counts for his team when he has a medal for his efforts. Those who are counted in companies or institutions are those whose inputs are clearly seen. They are the ones who get the company’s best staff awards, are trained and promoted. They are the company’s assets. You must strive to be a heralded voice that counts where you are.
Finally, the countries who stay up are those who have a higher gold tally. They are ranked from number one to the last. Those whose athletes have been impressive stand top of the cadre while those whose athletes have performed badly stay at the end. Which position are you aiming for? The top position or the last on the list? The choice is yours.
Push for gold. That’s what matters.
*Ekekere is a writer from Uyo, Nigeria who writes inspiring writs on personal development for all categories of persons. Connect with him on Twitter @inyang21…
