Posted 2:20 am Sunday, April 22, 2012
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Readers Share ‘Relentless Pursuit'
Last week I asked readers to describe what represented the pursuit of their "A game." It seems a few things are consistent with respect to the pursuit of something that brings us to a level of higher performance. The automaker Lexus calls it the relentless pursuit of perfection. The key word there is pursuit. They have never once claimed to have arrived at their target. This keeps them accountable to their customers, competitors and co-workers to aim higher after each new product arrives on the market.
This is something that reminds me of why the journey is more important than the destination. Or, as a new friend recently shared with me, "If your aspirations exceed your accomplishments you are living. If your accomplishments exceed your aspirations, you are dying."
Whether this is true or not is up to the individual processing the information. It could be just as true for a person in a wheelchair as it could for a person in a high chair.
With respect to personal improvement journeys, a favorite quote I ran across recently went like this: "When the student is ready, the teacher arrives."
This has been true for me and yet, if the student waits too darned long he may (in my case this has been true) need a swift kick in the behind in order to get ready for the impending arrival of said teacher.
For today's responses, thank you for your encouragement and I am proud of each of you for pursuing your A games!
Your responses are listed below:
One of our third grade class mottos is a quote from Vince Lombardi. We remind ourselves of this all year long and I believe it speaks to your Sunday column. We really appreciate your newspaper!
"We are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it because in the process we will catch excellence."
Following The Way,
PK
I have told you a couple of hundred times, I love your articles every Sunday. I have followed with special interest your weight loss journey. You have done an outstanding job. Every pound is a step closer. I started July 21, 2011 on Weight Watchers thinking it would be just like any other attempt I have made over the years; failure when it got too hard or takes too long.
But this time, something was different. Seventy-three pounds lighter now, I guess I have consistently brought my A game in the last nine months. Like a cassette tape that plays in my head frequently. Here are some of the things that I hear when I press PLAY.
1) I can do this.
2) If I don't have a good reason not to exercise, DO IT!
3) I already know what it tastes like.
4) And more recently, a new phrase I have adopted, "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels."
Holly
Your columns continuously carry such insightful pearls. I am a fan. My "A game" this year requires I participate in the runs within my purview, including the 5, 10, and 20K runs. This fall I will run a marathon, probably alone on my back pastures since my dogs don't finish the 10K runs. I've gained the weight I need and I'll be turning 60. Keep up the good works.
Rodrigo
While I have never considered pursuing my best as "my A game," I do think of it as striving for excellence -- excellence that brings glory to God.
And, as you so clearly wrote "... we are constantly under attack by the tyranny of the urgent to throw us off track."
Since there doesn't appear to be a new path forthcoming for me, I will by default just make a renewed, more conscious effort to live life fully and never stop trying. We do need to have this brought to our attention quite regularly.
Ruth
The B.U.N.S Book Club meets today to review and discuss "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain."
