Choose Your Race

It has to be the purposeful collision of time and circumstance that creates the place in which a person finds their self. How else can one explain the varying spheres of influence that befall different human beings? Some of us are limited to family, friends and a few business contacts. Others have far greater influence.

Take for example world leaders or heads of state (the two terms are clearly not interchangeable). What is it that determines that one person achieves great power, recognition, and position, while others do not? Is it the result of a choice? The awareness of the option is certainly more evident to some than to others. I wonder why this is so? If a person’s father or husband is President of the United States, does that lend credibility to their aspiration of being president? Given the fact that so many of our presidents have come from humble origins (not all were born with a silver foot in their mouth); it doesn’t seem an adequate explanation. Rather, it appears to have something to do with what, for lack of a better term, we must call providence. Some thing, some force, some alignment of the stars brings about the circumstances in which each of us find ourselves to be.

I suspect that what got us to this point is of little consequence. What matters is where we go from here. There is a very thin line separating the perception of life as a result of choices or chance. If we accept the choice option, we must accept the corresponding responsibility. If we opt for chance, we must be prepared for the accidental collision of events. What is clear, however, is that at any given moment we are free to choose the direction of our personal next step. We are free to ignore anyone and everyone and choose our own way.

Danny Thomas’ daughter Marlo tells of the time when she told her famous father that she wanted to change her name. She said she was weary of always being compared to him. Marlo writes that she tried not to cry during the long silence that followed. Finally, her father responded, “I raised you to be a thoroughbred. When thoroughbreds run, they wear blinders to keep their eyes focused straight ahead with no distractions, no other horses. They hear the crowd but they don’t listen. They just run their own race. That’s what you have to do. Don’t listen to anyone comparing you to me or to anyone else. You just run your own race.”

Where you are right now is the starting line. The finish line is wherever you choose it to be, even President.

Giddy Up