Matt Williamson, Dan Waldschmidt’s Chief of Staff here. I got fired up over something this past week, so Dan let me commandeer the blog for today.
Here’s what happened…
“That’s too much work.”
“Do I have to earn points?”
“We’re never going to win.”
“I don’t want to do this.”
“I’m only 7.”
Those are the excuses I deal with in my Sunday School classroom every week.
It’s the same excuses Dan & I often hear in boardrooms.
Each week, I pit my 3rd through 5th graders against each other to see which group can arrange the books of the Bible faster.
Each week, the boys complain that they’ll never win, that the girls always win.
But they’ve lost before they’ve started.
Those same girls, with the exact same amount of time in the week as the boys, practice. And practice. And practice and practice and practice until they’re lightning quick.
Now, there’s one lone boy who’s busting it to win our game time — but he’s drowned out by his classmate’s whining.
I was so angry about the blatant laziness I have to deal with week in & week out that I decided to go for a run after church.
I’ve been running either 3, 4, or 5 miles on any given day, but I had someone once say I didn’t have 8 miles in me because I’m “not patient enough”.
So I decided to go 9.
I decided to go the literal extra mile.
I hadn’t run at all that week after I’d blown out my arch the previous Saturday running my first 10K (also with no training).
About 3.5 miles in, far away from my usual stomping grounds, I finally felt the mental clouds lift, and I thought about turning back.
But I kept pressing, knowing that if I quit now, I’d never forgive myself.
So I kept pushing.
and pushing.
And even when I got halfway, my mood didn’t lift. I didn’t magically become reenergized like I thought I was.
I still had to slog it out for another 4.5 miles.
It wasn’t until I was 5.5 miles in that I finally started to feel better. By then, I was back on “home turf.”
And it dawned on me…
When you’re willing to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes, what can stop you?
Nothing.
I realized the same dejection from Sunday School can be solved with the same solution that solved the mental pain in my run.
It’s the solution that works for every other problem I’ve ever faced.
Go the extra mile.
(then go 1,000 more if you have to).
Yes, those kids are frustrated they’re losing. My co-teacher’s frustrated they won’t behave. I’m frustrated they won’t do the hard things.
But I’m going to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes until I figure this out.
I’ll see you at the 1,000 mile mark.
Game on.
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