The clear winners.

Picture #1

The young girl smiling here was not the first girl in the today’s cross-country race to cross the finish line.  But let me make a point. She is somehow playing the greatest role of her young life. In a quest to discover herself, she decided to take on an activity that looms furthest from her comfort level.   At 12, there is no more difficult task than doing something your not naturally inclined to do.  It takes some guts to take that risk. To make it even more challenging, none of her close friends were on the team when she first began cross-country.  In short order she is realizing that the struggle to get to the finish line is truly the reward. In less than a month, she has gone from walking parts of the course to running it completely. Her sweetest victories come from within and it is a joy to watch her discover her true strength. Its no surprise the shirt says Strong because it defines her in every way.

Picture #2

Often, we wait for the winner to break the tape so we can live vicariously through their adrenaline rush.  Today’s real victory came in watching the final boy cross the finish line with the opposing team supporting him. It was beautiful.  With this image in my mind, another day closes with yet another ordinary miracle to ponder.