INSPIRATION FOR FINISHING STRONG AND STARTING GREAT
Congratulations
to all of you who have made it to this last week of 2017. It is indeed countdown
to the end of the year in days, in fact in hours. We are approaching the
finishing line. As the year is winding down, what is very important is that we must finish strong in order to start the New Year great and well.
Life
can essentially be likened to individual sports such as cycling, diving,
swimming, or running of 100/200 metres race. In the racecourse, participants
rely mainly on their individual skills for victory. To every racer, the moments
that are most important to them are the times for starting and ending the
race. They give all concentration to how they are going to lift off the starting line and how they will reach
the finishing line.
At
the sound of the starting gun, they all speed off as fast as they can be and at
the end of the race, where the finishing line is drawn, they also put up a
great performance to finish strong. Any racer who approaches the finishing line
lackadaisically or carelessly is often overtaken by others.
Just like the racer, at the
point of the finishing line (in this case, the end of year), until we still
keep a fast pace, finish strong, and cross the line neat, the crown eludes us.
The end of each year closes one chapter of our lives and the beginning of the
year opens a new chapter. Starting every New Year is likened to a racer who
takes off at the sound of the starting gun. He is mentally alert, emotionally
organized, physically ready and even spiritually focused. Nothing distracts him
at that moment.
More often than not, many
persons who started the year well are tempted to slow down at the end of the year, may be because of
some disappointments they met during the course of the year.
But the very decisive fact
that must be stated at this point is that, it is the spirit you finish one
phase that determines the spirit you enter into the next phase. The spirit you
close one chapter determines the spirit you begin the next chapter. The attitude of mind you use in closing
each year determines the mentality you use in starting a new one. How you
end this year will bear directly on and decide how you begin next year. Finishing
one year badly is an indication of not preparing well for the next year. It is,
therefore, very risky to finish badly.
The state and attitude of
your mind in the last week, especially the last day of each year, determines
the state and attitude of your mind at the beginning of the New Year, especially
the first day of the New Year. The mindset and physical readiness a good racer
or athlete finishes his 100 or 200 metres dash is the same attitude we must
finish 2017 if we must start 2018 and make it a year of far greater results.
Do you know that we don’t
think intermittently, but think in continuous streams? The attitude of our thoughts
at the finishing point of one phase determines the attitude of our thoughts in
the beginning point of another phase because there is always a connection in
thoughts. What we think today has a strong bearing on what happens
tomorrow.
So, however you fared this
year, even if you made mistakes at some point, that shouldn’t make you end in
hopelessness. Don’t let any ugly past define your future; no matter how you
look at it, you are not a failure. Making mistakes don't make you a failure until there is faith failure. Brace up, engage the second wind, believe that
God is on your side, and cross the finishing line in a grand style. Remember, the
line where every race ends is the point all good and victorious athletes are
most serious.
How do you finish strong? You
do so by taking stock of how you fared this year. Note the successes you
recorded and give yourself a pat on the back. Also identify where you missed it
and note the lessons learnt. Warren G. Harding, a past American president said
that, “It is everlastingly true that on
the whole of the best guide to the future is to be found in a proper
understanding of the lessons of the past.”
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