Life can feel like a competition. Sometimes we find ourselves wanting to climb over another person to get ahead. And even though we only have our two feet to put in front of us, we often look over our shoulders to see who’s chasing us, rather than keeping our eyes fixed on where we are going.

I love to run and I love to race. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that when I train for a marathon, I’m not giving any thought about trying to beat someone else. When I’m running with a friend or a race with 40,000 other people, the only person I have any say over is me. And whether that person finishes in front, behind or beside me, I am still running my own race.

Life for some reason, can cause me to think differently at times. Suddenly I care about what other people think, how they look, how they are doing and how I stack up next to them.

I have to remember that I am not better than someone else if I finish ahead of them – and I am not inferior to someone who finishes in front of me. I am here to do I was put here to do and at the end of the race, I just have to know that I did my best.