When I was a boy, I was obese, a nerd and by no means athletic. I was never chosen on sports teams, was terribly bullied, laughed at when I went running in the neighborhood one day and always wanted to have some way to physically excel and challenge myself.
A few years back I decided to run. As time has passed I’ve become more experienced and have trained more intentionally and regularly. This was my 3rd race EVER…I came in 10th out of 103…6th out of 31 men and 2nd in my age category.
I can’t possibly express how incredibly proud I am of myself, how grateful I am for the support I receive from my superwoman of a wife and even more so how amazed I once again am at the human spirit and the power that purpose holds in one’s life.
I wrote this because I’ve genuinely deemed it my life’s intention to assist others in developing their own sense of purpose while supporting them in becoming their truest selves. We ALL have a purpose and through it we can become who we TRULY are intended to be.
One of my life’s purposes is to stop running when I’m DONE not when I’m tired. In that photo…I… WAS…TIRED…but I wasn’t DONE!
My hope is that this Facebook post not become a method of advertising to it’s readers, or that it be considered a moment of gloating…instead…I hope that it demonstrates that as long as we are alive we have the time we need to commit to our life’s purpose. Because in so doing…this world is and can be the place we all wish it to be. One in which life has meaning! One in which we don’t wait for someone’s permission to BE AWESOME. And quite importantly…one in which we DON’T STOP until our life’s, purpose driven work…is DONE!
Special thanks to William O’Keeffe who took the photo (my edits : ) and to Safe Homes of Orange County for coordinating the race “We Can Be Heroes 5k” and for the AMAZING work they do in the community.
Juan-Carlos 