Troy wrote this and shared it with our family. It's worth the time to read it for sure:Are you a victim or a soldier?"In the movie Seabiscuit, the jockey has had a difficult life and is angry. He was abandoned by his family as a child, he can’t see very well, doesn’t have a home, has been physically abused by his employers most of his life. During a race, the team makes a plan to hold back until the right moment for the final sprint to the finish line. Seabiscuit can defeat the other horses, but a rider cuts them off. The jockey begins sprinting Seabiscuit to the horse and rider who fouled him. He yells and punches the other rider letting him know how mad he was at him for cutting him off. The team loses the race. When asked later why he didn’t stick to the plan? The rider says: “He fouled me, what do you want me to do? He fouled me.” He chose to be a victim of injustice rather than focus on what he was there to do. The result was a loss for the entire team. He gave up his purpose because of a small action of another that really didn’t matter that much. The entire team including: the jockey, Seabiscuit, the trainer, the owners, the other crew members, the people who bet on him to win, and many others lost the race, but he was fouled, or at least the jockey believes he was fouled.
How often do we get distracted by the actions of others that we personally feel are injustices done to us. We choose to lose the race, our focus, and our purpose for being there in the first place. We let down our entire team because of a small injustice. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes the injustice done to us is too great to ignore, if the other rider had fouled him hard enough to cause his horse to be injured then those consequences would need to be directly addressed and the race would have been over by consequence, but this little infraction really didn’t matter. The other rider was just trying to run his own race with his own team, or maybe he fouled him on purpose, we don’t really know.
That same rider went on to be a great team with Seabiscuit. They won many races together and became famous. It wasn’t because they were never fouled again, it was because the rider recognized that he was angry about his life and it was affecting his entire life. The rider finally recognized who believed in him and the trust they placed in him. He was able to work through his personal pain just like Seabiscuit and find the winner in himself. His anger turned to focus and gratitude for his current circumstances. Because of that newfound confidence and focus, this team could not lose. They focused on winning, teamwork, and personal improvement. They let go of all the impossibilities ahead of them and all the injustices of the past. For them it was like cutting the harness away from the wagon of expectations, guilt, injustice, and predetermined destiny they were dragging around. They used that wagon pulling time of the past as a time that made them stronger and now were able to run lightning fast without drag or self-limitation. For Seabiscuit it was like pulling a semi-trailer with a Ferrari, it wasn’t in his purpose or making and was destroying him. He may have had the “horsepower” but it wasn’t in his build. Once the semi-trailer was released, he could not be stopped and his real purpose was realized.
In World War 2, The United States was brutally attacked at Pearl Harbor. The U.S. didn’t cry to the world to come and rescue it from Japan, and that it wasn’t fair that this happened. They found a way to improve and defeat the odds and bomb Tokyo in the Doolittle Raid. Eventually their bombs became so powerful that the whole world stopped in awe of the power harnessed in the atomic bomb, ending the war. America was not great because it was never fouled, it was determined to soldier on and win! Do not ever forget that America did not win every battle. Many soldiers were killed or injured and gave their lives for the cause, but eventually the odds turned into advantage and the world became peaceful again.
Everyone is fighting a battle or full on war in their lives. It could be upbringing, emotional pain, cancer, depression, financial difficulty, loss of a loved one, or millions of other battles. Some of these can be overcome, while others cannot. Hopefully they are not the only focus or purpose in life. Hopefully we can each find a race to run or a battle to fight with a team of people who believe in you to support and lift you up. This new found purpose can lift you and strengthen you. Your past can cease to pain you and instead strengthen you. You now can ignore the mistakes of others and the small infractions done to you and just focus on the plan. You will have more victories, joy, and good memories this way than any other way in your existence. This is our opportunity to be healed and be able to heal others. "
Our little lady turned two on Tuesday, May 3, 2011! She wanted a fairy party... so the family members were all good sports and wore wings. We enjoyed a delicious cake (thanks, Sam's!), watched her take a super long time to open gifts, and played. Highlights to her party were the kind and generous gifts (pink tutu skirt and beloved rainboots from the Chatty's, soft play food from Grandma and Grandpa Chatty, and a darling Tinkerbell dress from Uncle S, Auntie K, and Baby W), crying during the song, and eating cake creatively.