Running the Good Race
by Jim Russell, Ph.D., N.C.C., L.P.C.
If all goes according to plan, I will be launching my children's book this fall at the LDA of MO State Conference. The book, Pitch before Power, is written for human beings who have faced adversity. My hope is that young human beings, children ages six-to-ten, will read the book and find out about adversity, naysayers, and about being themselves.
The book is about a young woman who is a great pilot but is thwarted by stereotypes and ignorance. Anyone who works in the field of learning disabilities (LD) probably knows a little about how stereotypes and ignorance can create roadblocks for people. My hope is that the book will help human beings, big and small, to get past the roadblocks in their lives.
My career in LD started when my kid brother, who has a learning disability, was running in a track meet. He was the last leg of a relay race, and by the time he got the baton, he was 100 yards behind. There was no way he could ever catch up to the back of the pack - much less win! But my brother knows adversity, understands naysayers, and he is a great human being. So, instead of jogging in to finish the last leg of the race, my brother exploded into a full-out, no-fooling-around sprint. The person leading the relay race was about to cross the finish line when my brother started his now legendary sprint. An interesting thing happened. Everyone in the stands started watching and cheering on my brother who was, and remained, in last place. And they had stopped watching the winner, who had crossed the finish line.
My brother taught many of us an important lesson that day. He taught us that we are called upon to do our best, no matter the circumstances. He also taught us that the winner is not always the person who finishes the race first. While the small crowd of spectators cheered my brother on as he crossed the finish line dead last, the thought occurred to me that facing adversity was probably the race my brother was running that day. He has since gone on to run many other races, but the one constant is that he never lets stereotypes, naysayers, or ignorance keep him from doing his best.
The burden of being an inedividual like my brother is that he does not judge himself by standards that other people establish. He has taught me that the true measure of a person is only found once a person realistically understands his or her own strengths and weaknesses. And that a person should act in an ethical manner when interacting with others who have differing strengths and weaknesses.
The true measure of a person should be to do what is possible, given the limitations one must manage. Although we tend to laud unfathomable riches to the top performers in our society, we seem to miss the point when it comes to daily living. Most of us can not carry a ball well enough, sing a song rhythmically enough, or do any task well enough to receive fame. However, in the end it is a matter of trying to stay in areas of strengths, and doing one's best. If we don't have the gifts to perform at the highest levels, then we are called upon to master our strengths and accept our challenges. But, this does not mean that we can not be profoundly influential in our daily lives.
More than twenty-five years ago, a young adolescent boy taught a small group of spectators a profound life lesson. He taught us to know our strengths, to face adversity, and to do our best no matter the circumstances. So often, greatness is about doing the daily things, but doing it just a little bit longer, or with a little more effort than the next person. We don't always have to win the race to be the champion; but in order to be a champion, we have to run the good race.
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