STARTING ISN'T THE DESTINATION
Dayo Nigeria
This story is particularly very
inspiring to me because it is one that challenges me and tells me that I
cannot afford to give up. Failure isn't when challenges come as
stumbling blocks on our journey in pursuing purpose, it is when we give
up because of the challenge. I once heard that the breakfast of
champions are challenges, and this is absolutely true.
I
invite you to come with me to the Mexico City, Olympic Stadium. October
20th 1968, the time, 7.00 P.M. The closing ceremonies had just been
completed. The spectators and athletes, still warm from the euphoria of
the celebration, were gathering their belongings to leave the stadium.
Then the announcer asked them to remain in their seats. Down the
boulevard came the whine of police sirens. From their vantage point,
many in the stadium could see motorcycles with their flashing blue
lights, encircling someone making his way toward the stadium. Whoever it
was, he was moving slowly.
Everyone
remained seated to see the last chapter of the Olympics take place. By
the time the police escort got to the stadium, the public address
announcer said that a final marathoner would be making his way into the
arena and around the track to the finish line. Confusion was evident
among the crowd. The last marathoner had come in hours ago. The medals
had already been awarded. What had taken this man so long? But the first
sign of the runner making his way out of the tunnel and onto the track
told the whole story.
John Stephen Akhwari from
Tanzania, covered with blood, hobbled into the light. He had taken a
horrible fall early in the race, whacked his head, damaged his knee, and
endured a trampling before he could get back on his feet. And there he
was, over 40 kilometres later, stumbling his way to the finish line. The
response of the crowd was so overwhelming, it was almost frightening.
They encouraged Akhwari through the last few metres of his race with a
thundering ovation that far exceeded the one given the man who, hours
earlier, had come in first. When Akhwari crossed the finish line, he
collapsed into the arms of the medical personnel who immediately whisked
him off to the hospital.
The next day, Akhwari appeared before
sports journalists to field their questions about his extraordinary
feat. The first question was the one any of us would have asked, “Why,
after sustaining the kinds of injuries you did, would you ever get up
and proceed to the finish line, when there was no way you could possibly
place in the race?” John Stephen Akhwari said this: “My country did not
send me over 11,000 kilometres to start a race. They sent me over
11,000 kilometres to finish the race.
You don't have any excuses
not to get to the finish line, the only reason you won't get to the
finish line isn't the challenge you will face, but your decision to
quit. The earlier you knew that no one else, but you, is responsible for
your success or failure. How many times have you seen young people
blame the situation of things in the country as the reason they've not
been able to achieve anything. Have you forgot so soon that if there was
no Goliath, David might not have established himself as a warlord. The
reason that challenge is before you is for the purpose of your
announcement.
I don't care what you are going through, I don't
care what you've been told by people, I don't care what all those things
that are telling you to quit are, what I am sure of is that if your
heart is capable of conceiving the idea, then you are capable of
achieving it. Don't listen to the noise in the market, concentrate on
what you have gone to do in the market.
I challenge you not to
give up on your dreams, because there must be a battle you have to win
for you to be called a winner. Don't give up when you have not even
started anything and you have to know that your challenges are there to
become stepping stones for you.
You are created to be the best,
never give up until you become the best. And remember, it is not just
about starting, the most important thing is to get to the finish line.
IT IS NEVER OVER UNTIL YOU WIN OR QUIT.
