Never Give Up

I remember standing at the start of the under 12 inter-house 200 meters. My heart pounding and my body filled with that nervous energy. I wanted to do well, maybe even win the race.

Take your marks, get set, boom, the gun explodes and I was quick out the blocks and into a fast stride, perhaps a little too fast. I remembered my dad’s advice clearly - “stride down the back straight and reserve something in the tank for the last 50 meters.”

This advice I didn’t heed, I was moving it down the first 100 at a rapid rate, leading the race. I hit the bend and I was thinking, I’ve got this all sewn up. I got lulled into a false sense of security, enabling my 2 closest rivals to catch up.

The final 100 was lined with spectators cheering, the extra something I needed to get over that line in 1st place. But something switched my focus and I turned my head to the right to see the other 2 competitors exactly in line with me sprinting neck and neck for the finish line.

This was a psychological blow for me. I had been leading up to this point, and if I was not leading, I was not going to win the race. I gave up, took my foot off the gas and came in 3rd place.

What if I had, instead of giving up, used the other competitors parity as extra motivation to push harder than ever before, to dig deep and find that extra something to keep going? Perhaps the outcome would have been different. But more importantly I wouldn’t have felt so bad knowing I had given it my all.

The lecture I received from my dad about how not to give up has stuck with me to this day. How often do we abandon something when we are so close to success, just to give up because it’s just too hard to maintain the momentum?