More and more these days, it seems that it is politically incorrect to “label” someone as a loser. Nobody’s a loser – everyone’s a winner.  Or, one team finishes first, and the other team finishes second. Parents try hard to protect their children from acknowledging “losing” for fear of damaging their self-esteem. However, in a baseball game, clearly one team is the winner when that team scores more runs than the other team. We all can’t be winners every time. The fact is: In any kind of competition, someone is going to “win.”

However, “losing” doesn’t have to be bad. Kids need to learn  how to be good winners and good losers. What one might call “losing” is simply not reaching a particular goal – at that time. And, it teaches us to examine what we did, learn from our experience, and make changes for the next time around. Every experience – winning or losing – is an opportunity to learn something. And, it should be seen as such – not as a final defeat, rather as a lesson to be learned.

Philosophically speaking, though, we ARE all winners – when “winning” is synonymous with “personal victory,” when “winning” is synonymous with “success.” We all have “wins” everyday, and in that sense, we are all winners.

We get caught up in the semantics of winning and losing. We’re all winners and all losers at various points in our lives. But basically we get caught up in labeling. And most of the time, labels are usually both stereotypical and inaccurate .

What started out as a short trip to Sun Valley, Idaho, to run a half marathon turned into more than just an inspiring run in the mountains.

Our original purpose for going to Sun Valley was to run the half marathon; however, when we got there, we discovered that the Sun Valley Wellness Festival was going on. And, a bonus that we weren’t counting on was being able to get tickets to hear Dan Milman speak on Friday night. Dan Milman is a former world champion athlete and author of 13 books, including Way of the Peaceful Warrior.

Most of us already have what we need to be successful, happy, and fulfilled in our lives. It’s just that sometimes we don’t know it and need to have it pointed out. So, we go to seminars, we listen to speakers, we read all the books, we listen to the CDs…all to learn how to get motivated to be successful, happy, and fulfilled.

But it’s not the KNOWING that is the problem – it’s the DOING. The challenge is turning what we know into what we do. Taking Action is the key.

So…

• Do you KNOW what to do to get healthy? Are you DOING it?
• Do you KNOW how to be successful? Are you DOING it?
• Do you KNOW what it takes to be happy? Are you DOING it?

Taking small steps everyday is a start. Although starting is usually the hardest part, it is about  Taking Action. Do something today – A little bit of something is better than a lot of nothing.

All the things I’ve been talking about in my blog up until now converge these few days before the Eugene Marathon. I’m now in the home stretch leading up to race day, and as I prepare for the actual “event,” I reflect on the past 6 months of training:

How you do anything is how you do everything: I commit to a goal, I stay focused, I am disciplined, I manage my time, and I persist until I succeed.

You can’t do it alone: Rarely does anyone achieve any meaningful success on their own. Coach Scott has worked with me for the past 6 months helping me get stronger both physically and mentally. My husband, who often asks, “Can’t we just go on a vacation without having to run a race?” has hung out with me on my long runs setting water along the path so I didn’t have to carry a waterbelt. My kids and friends have listened to me talk about my track workouts, my tempo runs, and my long runs – even when some of them don’t know what the heck I’m talking about.

Everyday we’re tested: I’ve trained through a cold and snowy Idaho winter – one of the coldest in a long time (I hear). I thought training in Idaho would be a piece of cake compared to training in Chicago during the winter. Idaho was no bargain. Cold, snow, ice, rain, wind. I probably ran only half a dozen runs… (more…)

Every connection we make has a purpose, whether it’s a connection with a person, an animal, or nature. Clearly, we don’t always recognize the purpose at the time, and many we may never recognize. But if you reflect on some of the connections you’ve made in your life, you’ll discover the purpose of the encounter and maybe realize that you learned something in the process.

I keep a journal of the connections that I recognize, and it’s amazing how

• one person leads to another who provides just the thing you were looking for…
• then someone recommends a book…
• you get the book and learn something from that book that is exactly what you needed to hear right then…
• someone tells you about an event…
• you go to the event and meet someone who later becomes a friend or a client…

When you become aware that everything and everyone is connected…, (more…)