Over time as I have gotten older I have been more and more of a seeker in life. One of mankind's biggest needs beyond love is the quest for happiness. I know that joy is different necessarily from happiness and comes from within. Joy is kind of like this zenith of happiness. Joy can be present despite outside circumstances. It is something you hold inside. Kind of like memories.
But I have found that what can spark these feelings of elation inside can have to do with highly positive events that you create for yourself in your life. I have observed that
JOY IS FOUND IN FANTASTIC FINISHES.
I have used quite a few sports analogies to relate to how life works. Life is a journey. It has competition. It has its ebbs and flows. You can find yourself a winner some days. Sometimes you are mired in the agony of defeat. Life requires practice to be good. We all have our role to play in a team effort. The competition and the conditions bring out our character. You can learn a lot about a person's character watching how they handle how a poorly played round of golf goes for them.
But with joy, if we work hard along a journey, and get to a finish, a "fantastic finish", there is no better feeling in the world. It is a great sense of accomplishment. You have overcome odds that may have been stacked against you.
Think of the 1980 Olympic mens USA hockey team that got by the heavily favored Soviet Union team to eventually win the Gold Medal. The men on that team can carry that joy with them, along with those fans that followed that game, for the rest of their lives.
Even in building a new home from the ground up or searching for weeks to find your "perfect" homestead, it is a feeling of jubilation when you cross the finish line. You have that joy in your heart.
I've personally been training to run a half marathon. Sometimes I think my goal is too low when I know others that are performing as triathletes and one lady I know who just completed an "Ironman" triathlon with enormous distances in swimming, biking, and running. But I know on my journey when I cross the finish line successfully I will have added another notch of joy to my belt, something no one can take away from me.
Now we all can't be at the superstar level in our fantastic finishes like a Tiger Woods in grinding out a sudden death win in the U.S. Open with a torn ACL.
But the point is we need to finish. And we need to have a "fantastic finish" to generate those great feelings inside.
I provide the sports visuals to help to imagine this inner joy. It truly is available for all of us if we just think about it.
A race car is probably another good visual. You are driving your life to an important goal. You need to be out on the track. You need skill. You need to navigate the turns and take a pit stop now and then. You above all need to FINISH to have that sense of accomplishment.
Fantastic finishes do not have to be all about lofty goals either. They could be as simple as taking a long needed vacation. The point is you got on the path and you completed it.
It is in the fulfillment of something when dreams come true. Live your life so no dreams are left on the shelf.
The secret to this joy thing is completion. Then there is more joy to be found.
So when you see that skinny kid coming up the road finishing his half marathon, know that he has just added another deposit into his joy bank.
May you have many fantastic finishes along your own journey.
Wow Gary that was quite the post! So often we stop just short of the finish line..........and yet the joys of reaching it are immeasurable! Wow I'm impressed with you training for a 1/2 marathon..........i still have to push myself to do 30 minutes on the treadmill! lol
"Fantastic Finish", that is a great way to phrase it. I am happy when I get finished with a post. Reaching our goals sure does refuel our energies. Even small things we do or put off doing sure do give a sense of accomplishment when we finish.
Good for you to run a half marathon. I need to set a goal like that. You have inspired me again, Gary.
HI GARY!
Thanks and be sure to post about your marathon along with pictures. Good luck with that.
Liz: Finishing is definitely the key to finding that joy. 30 minutes on a treadmill is no slouch. That's actually pretty good. Stick with it.
Audrey: Completing many things does make us feel good.
Yvette: I'll let you know how it goes.
Hi Pat: Thanks for your great comment. I think our goals should be individual. I appreciate your video. It shows that all things are possible. That relationship between the father and his physically challenged son was awesome in him taking him along for that triathlon event. So inspiring. And what dedication to his son in wanting him to participate with him in such an accomplishment. It's mind blowing some of the things others do. Makes us all feel we have so much in us that is still yet to be tapped. Glad you were getting lots of comments on your blog. It was a good one. Keep up your efforts. You're doing great!!
hi Gary, there are so many truisms in this post. Maybe I'm finally getting a little wiser as I get a little older but I find a lot of my happiness/joy comes just from trying, even if I don't succeed at what I set out to do.
This is a really well illustrated post BTW! Have a great weekend!
Hi Marti: They say that it is about the journey not the destination, so to that I can relate. A fantastic finish builds a memory of joy which we can tap into during our struggles with the next journey. Have a great weekend YOU too!!
Gary...
I think that a lot of the people here experienced that kind of joy when they passed their real estate or appraiser's test! That kind of finish always gets me excited.
A January White Sale is as athletic as I get.... But finding shoes on sale to match the dress on sale.. I truly understand a Fantastic Shopping Finish! (at least for the day) I am always ready for that race! LOL!
I've often told my girls that they will truly never know 'real joy' until they set a goal for themselves...and then work hard to achieve it. This is a fantastice post...full of truth. GBU, Gary!
Awesome post, Gary! I believe it is important to finish whatever we begin. When I was young, I had a bad habit of not finishing things. As I matured I realized it and made a promise to myself to finish whatever I start and it has brought me joy many times in my life. Maybe not the accomplishment so much as the joy of finishing and knowing it is a promise I kept to myself. Have a great week! :)
Gary, I'm so impresed with your half-full marathon running. It's so important to have these accomplishments/"finishes" in our lives. They are like markers, much like the phrases in music, that give it form and functionality. I need to set some physical goals. Ever since I stopped my ostrich-riding, stargazing and Formula-1 racing, I reside too much in my head and forget to move away from work and my computer.I'm becoming a bit of a blog blob...! YIKES! (maybe I'll trick myself by taping a "Mara's Marathon" ribbon across my front door tonight, and when I leave tomorrow morning, I'll hit the ground running...??? ;-)
Hi Richard; Real estate or Appraiser test completion is another good example of an accomplishment and Fantastic Finish. They can't take it away from you.
Hi Sherry: Fantastic shopping finishes count : )
Elizabeth: Passing on great teachings to your girls. Very good.
Ricki: There is joy in finishing something. People have to recognize that!!
Hi Mara: You were an Ostrich rider? Cool!!! ; ) How come we don't have blog blob competition on TV on Sunday afternoons?? Just make a fantastic finish out of ANYTHING my friend and you'll be fine.
Gary-I use to tell my son growing up that he had to finish what he started. Being a quitter gets you no where in life, and the joy you get from completing a task is well worth the effort. Thanks for another wonderful post....
Gary...
I agree however there is the flip of that. It happened to me when I was "crowned" the top Realtor in Houston, and was standing there with this feeling of, "is this all there is?". I wrote a post on it awhile back called, Life is a journey not a destination. I had worked so hard to get to the finish line, that I felt I missed something along the way.
Of course it could have just been my mood that night too :-)...Don't get me wrong it was exillerating. Attitude, Approach and Expectation, if we kept those in line we would all be more balanced and happy, don't you think? L
Gary, We never grow if we don't set benchmarks to reach and surpass, do we? Excellent post my friend!
Gary,
I love the finishes or as Jesse said "benchmarks" that we achieve in life and look at them as starting points for the next fantastic finish. Thank you my firend for the post.
Gary ~ I love that last picture; the determination on that boy's face shows he is going to give his all to complete his race. Good luck in your half marathon. I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I complete something whether it's a small task that I have put off forever or a job that had a tight deadline. There is a simple joy in knowing that you did it!
You bet, I feel an adrenaline rush every time an escrow closes! :) That's my finish line.
Gary, a half marathon? That's truly impressive and you're going to feel amazing (I can only imagine) once you do cross the finish line. I love to watch marathoners relish in their victory of having finished without thought or care for the time it took. Finishing was always the goal!
Hi Gary! When is your half marathon? Good luck with it, and that is something you should be very proud of!
hi Gary,
That feeling of accomplishment when we reach a goal we worked hard at is something no one else can give to us but ourselves and you've illustrated that so well with this insightful post. In that respect, I guess we really do have the ability to create joy in our lives.....
Jo
Very impressive Gary. I love your blog! Awesome eye candy to illustrate your points. "Driving your life to an important goal" is a concept I can fully embrace. :-)
Great post Gary! I love analogies as lessons and your post was an excellent example.
Gary.. EXCELLENT post. I hope you do well in the half marathon. You've set a goal, and as long as you finish.. you've won. Why? You have achieved something you didn't know you could do until you tried.
Gary, I too learned this lesson when I participated (and FINISHED) in a marathon. I was in so much pain as I was down to the final stretch...and then as I turned one of the last corners - there it was! No not the finish line - the hotel I was staying in! I actually had to reach down, yank up, scrape together and PUSH myself past that entrance and keep going toward the finish line. It was one of the hardest moments I can remember. I remember at the time actually thinking, no realizing, that when I was giving birth to my 10# son (now 24), I thought that was the hardest thing I'd done - but I had no choice, I had to finish that experience!! But that moment - that final leg of that marathon...nope I ddin't have to do that. I had both of my coaches on either side of me, urging me on for that final leg - but I just didn't have it in me. The pain was too much and my bed was right there in that building!
I did it - I kept going and finished. In reading your post, I could go back instantly and touch that feeling! I cried my eyes out and everyone thought it was because I finished, but it was because of what I realized as I past that hotel entrance. I didn't have to do it, but I chose to go on, through the pain - and I knew what that cost me. And THAT is what made it worthwhile. I finished - and it WAS joy. You're right.
Thanks for this Gary! Cindi
Hi Gary,
Beautiful post and absolutely spectacular photos. With your drive I have absolutely no doubt that you will have a spectacular finish of your own and your 1/2 marathon.
Two years ago I was at the start and hours later at the finish line of the Hawaiian Ironman in Kona It was an amazing experience in itself, watch the athletes coming across the finish line! One young mom came down the chute to the finish with her 7 week old infant in her arms.
Laura: A quitter never wins, and a winner never quits. Good advice.
Liz: You must have got to the finish line and then were ready for the next race. But no one can take that award or achievement away from you. It was and is all YOURS.
Jesse: Go through each set goal and then set the next one.
Don: Benchmarks are a good term, and then start the path for the next one.
Kathy: I agree wholeheartedly with you that accomplishing whatever just makes you feel good.
Elizabeth: See, you know what your finish lines are and feel great when you cross them.
Colleen: It is a great feeling to complete a high level goal.
Pam: Trageting last weekend in October. Hopefully I will have trained properly.
Hello Jo: Yep, you can manufacture the joy by finishing what you set out to do.
Carolyn: You set and achieve high goals, which I greatly admire in you.
Hi Rick: Thanks, glad you liked this.
Valerie: You keep pushing to that next level, that next breakthrough.
Cindi: I love your real world example. The finish was NOT the hotel but the finish line. Your example shows how that joy was found and now you STILL have it. Tremendous Cindi. Thank you.
Lynda: The Ironman event in Kona, Hawaii. What an awesome place to see a race. The athletes and the training they go through for that event is amazing. Outstanding the woman carrying the 7wk old. Thanks for the encouragement.
Gary - would love to see a pic of you on your Ironman race!
It it always such a good feeling when you accomplish something! Motivating post Gary!