Racing With The Wind

Do you remember playing hide-and-seek when you were a child?
I bet you were good… Your race to home base must have been something…

I drove by children playing a beautiful game of softball the other day…
They were trying so hard and running with all they had to home base…

It sent my mind back to the beautiful days of summer… I loved breezy afternoons…
My reflection included the smell of the grass.
I felt the wind in my face and remembered running home with all I had…

It brought visions of summer nights – playing hide and seek – and flashlight tag and racing with the wind…

Do we still race with the wind and feel the wonder in tiny victories?
Do we continue to celebrate minuscule seconds of improvement -hiding places or better bunts?
Do we still feel that smile come to our soul when we soar for even just a moment?

The thing is – tiny victories develop self-efficacy – character – individual strength…

As an adult I coached and taught my girls to set individual goals and celebrate every victory…
Periodically I would ask – so – where has your game improved… as if I hadn’t seen it…
Almost without fail the goal they purposed was the skill, strategy, game concept I observed.

And what was important… we celebrated… we enjoyed the victory… whether it had put us in first place or not… whether the player was warming the bench or starting… whether someone else was thrilled or not…
it was a victory of great magnitude… because it had been purposed in the heart of a valued player…

You are a valued player… The goals, dreams, hopes you hold are important and they matter.

Sometimes adult races include a serious, responsible nature and yield feelings of apprehension.
The winds are sometimes cold and bitter and void of the wonder we used to feel…
There are times we long for a beautiful hide-out no one will ever find…
If there are small victories they are hard to find or go unnoticed…

I gained strength in my reflection of racing with the wind
it reminded me to value the goals I hold – to treasure the small victories –
to feel the wind in my face as I race…

Those small childhood victories accumulated and made us the people we are… each victory gave us strength and character…
and it is important to recognize the journey of small victories that make up the benchmarks of life…

Life is a compilation of small victories and the scope of racing with the wind is broad
It still holds qualities of wonder even when the stakes are higher than hide and seek or softball…
Taking a moment to acknowledge every tiny step forward holds value, strengthens purpose, and energizes life.
There is meaning and value in racing with the wind and feeling the breeze…