Fighting with Dignity

It is certainly easier to surrender shamefully than to fight with dignity, but when you do you always lose. When you fight with dignity you at least have a chance at succeeding.

I think of Cross Country, as usual, when I think of this situation. In a Cross Country race you are fighting two forces: yourself and others. First you must beat yourself, aka the little guy in you saying SLOW DOWN. Once you have conquered him then you can focus on others. To win against them you must break them before they break you. This usually means picking up the pace to something neither of you want to run and pushing and pushing until one of you gives up and slows down.

This is what I think of when I think of fighting with dignity. When you are pushing that other runner and yourself you have two options, you can give up and surrender in the which case you will be failing yourself and your teammates or you can fight with dignity and break the other runner. In races where I have surrendered I am overwhelmed with shame. I feel like a complete failure and I literally hang my head in shame the rest of the day. I can barely look my teammates or coach in the face because I failed them all. When I fight with dignity, however, I am proud of what I have accomplished. That is one of the greatest feelings in the world.

While it is easier to surrender, it is always better to fight and to have your dignity whether you win or not.