Go See the Beautiful (eBook)

R. L. Johnson (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2021 | 1. Auflage
392 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-0983-7886-8 (ISBN)

'Go See the Beautiful: Old man running 26.2 miles' is a triumphant and unforgettable story about one man's journey to an extraordinary accomplishment. On the eve of the author's first marathon, he had a vision to accomplish something big. Throughout his life, he faced obstacles, adversity, but never defeat. During the darkest and most challenging moments, he always felt an indominable sense of determination and hope. This is a must-read story about the amazing life race that we all are given as a gift from God. This is a book that highlights our true purpose, and the importance to never give up and never accept defeat. Rusty Johnson shares his inspiring story filled with wisdom and knowledge that all readers will enjoy. This book was written to uplift and inspire others and remind them that although the race may be long, there is so much beauty along the way.

“Record the vision and make it plain, that

the one who reads it may run.”

MILE 1

The Race …

Where Less Than 1 Percent Go

A triumphant smile broke out of my heart and onto my face.

It was April 29, 2018. I was standing among almost 25,000 anxious and excited people, thinking back over the last 5 months- the last 5 years really that had led to this moment. And I realized I was smiling, a loud smile. If the other 25,000 people had not been there, if someone had seen me standing in the middle of the street with the big goofy grin spread across my face, there would surely have been concern. I couldn’t help it. I had to smile.

The journey to arrive at this moment had been long in many ways, and the most physically challenging of my 54 years. The will to accomplish what just one-half of 1 percent of people accomplish had been there, along with the dedication to train, to plan, to learn, to endure. But it was hard, very hard.

An injury had occurred when the runs grew long. I’d taken a short time for recovery and had determined to start again—too soon. The pain became intense. So much so that, for the first time in all the months of training, I was not accomplishing my goals. I discovered that “will” cannot always overcome injury. And one gray morning after I’d made one last deadline with the determination that this would be the “go, no-go” moment, I failed yet again. I called a son-in-law to pick me up on the dirt road a few miles from my home and tried to hide my defeat and my deep discouragement after yet another failed attempt. And in that moment, I almost … quit.

But then, with a few passing days, a new hope and new plan arose—and a thought that, maybe, if I just do “this idea,” it will all work out.

Three weeks from the big day, I set one last deadline. And I went. Painfully, I went.

Early miles went by and pain set in. I kept going. More miles went by; deeper pain set in. I kept going. With each passing mile, the pain increased. And I paused to consider it all. “Why?” I asked myself, but then I started again. The pain would not leave. It was just as determined as I. But for the first time in many weeks, I completed my goal. With every step during those last hours I told myself to remember this pain, which was informing me that I should not try to go through with this crazy plan. “You are old after all!”

But a few days passed, determination arose once more, and then, out of the blue, unexpected help came. For two weeks, I rested and healed. Just before the day to depart, I went out to run and behold—no pain! I couldn’t believe it. But the real test had not come. It had just been a short try. Still, there had been no pain! That’s a good sign! A firm decision now had to be made. The day was here. And so, I went. I had not quit!

The night before the big event, inspiration set in. Among the jitters and excitement, it all hit me—the “why?” and I said to myself once and for all … “I am going to run and come what may I will—I will cross that finish line. Come on, you 1 percent, this is our ground, and this is our day.”

So there I stood on hallowed ground, where men had died, where women had died, where innocent children had breathed their last; here, where mankind decided that they would fight on in the face of all adversity and against every evil plan. Here I stood, ready for this physical challenge that in no way compares to what those had once faced; I was determined … inspired … ready … once and for all. And a big smile was on my face.

“Run a marathon? Are you crazy?”

Vision. I would hazard the opinion that great conquests of man almost never occur absent the declared purpose by an often-charismatic leader, a leader who is painting a vivid picture of a preferable future. Cross the ocean, fly around the world, be the first to climb Everest.

What possessed John F. Kennedy to lay down the gauntlet and challenge America to land a craft on a moon that flies in orbit 239,000 miles from the earth? It is vision that causes a man to literally “reach for the stars” at a time when society is being rocked with the chaos of awakened inequality, propelling man to still dream big dreams at the very moment when it seems that all is close to falling apart.

But vision is not confined to great leaders on a world stage. Vision can explode within the hearts and minds of individuals in homes across the world. It can be very personal and can direct the choices of our everyday lives.

It is vision that causes great men and women—charismatic or not—to commit to love and devote themselves to one person for a lifetime; to raise children whose hearts are turned toward their parents in love even as the world throws at them so many “better” offers for their devotion and their time.

It is vision that causes a very bright young lady to decide to raise her children at home rather than bowing to the pressures of this world that tell her that she is less intelligent and will be less fulfilled should she not return to the working world rather than staying home in a cocoon of dirty diapers, with constant babbling as her only communication. And it is not one day. No. It is day after day, for weeks, months, years. It is the marathon of a woman whose children will arise one day and will bless her, will emulate her, and will seek her out when they raise their own.

It is vision that causes a single mother or father to get up early each morning to get their kids off to school or to grandma’s house, to then work a full day in a dog-eat-dog world, return home to feed, bathe, pray over, and love on their children before dropping into bed from exhaustion, determined to awake early the next morning and do it all again. It is the marathon of a parent whose children will one day be strong when others are weak, and who will return to honor the one who planted these reservoirs of strength into their young souls.

It is vision that causes a worn-out man who has just returned from a long day at work to greet his wife and children with joy, to keep the television and every electronic device that would entertain his tired soul turned off, and to instead spend the evening hours playing with those little impressionable souls who cannot wait for his return each day, who run shrieking to the door with shouts of, “Daddy’s home!” It is vision that finds him helping his wife, creating new games for his brood, tucking them in with a prayer and a song. It is the marathon of a man whose child will one day be asked, “Who is your hero?” and without pause will say, “My Dad. I love him. I want to be just like him.”

We are all in a race. But where are we running and what is our aim?

I heard a wise man one day who was sitting on a witness stand in a court of law. Twelve of his peers were listening to him speak about the depths of anguish as he watched his wife battle with cancer and come as close to death as you can come before the evil beast began to be beaten back. He spoke that day of the equality of all mankind. He told about walking into an elevator, with his wife attached to tubes of all kinds, when he saw a man of another nationality, and likely of another worldview and religion, standing next to his own wife with an equal number of protruding tubes. The two men looked at each other and their eyes were caught. In that moment, there was nothing between them. They were two men, loving two women who were fighting for their lives. All that was required was a nod of the head to each other, and they were one.

And as he neared the end of his story, he said, “When we are in our twenties, we all wonder if we will be successful. Later, many of us wonder if we are respected by our peers. At some point, though, I think we find ourselves wondering if the things we have done with our lives have really made a difference.”

Vision is what drives some humans to “really make a difference” rather than just passing through until their time is done.

It is not a short race, this. It is a marathon of marathons. It is full of every challenge, every emotion, every kind of resistance, every kind of joy; of surprises both wonderful and difficult—sometimes the difficult are so hard that it seems they cannot be borne. It is a race with hills and valleys, with wind, heat, cold, and rain, where wave upon wave will sometimes come with incessant regularity, battering our souls like they would batter a boat stuck in the sand, surely to break with the next monstrous wave; only then to see the most beautiful sun break through the clouds and the sea become glass, gently washing the pain.

Where will we go in this crazy life race? Vision declares it! Through every storm and on every wave, vision says “On! We will not cave!”

1.0

So here I stood, me with my smile. Here on this very ground where 168 of my fellow citizens had died in a senseless and tragic moment of American history when on April 19, 1995, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, suddenly and without warning, exploded.

Each year tens of thousands of runners from all over the world gather at this site in honor of those who died on this hallowed ground. Each person begins an arduous journey of 13.1 miles or 26.2 miles, declaring to themselves and to...

Erscheint lt. Verlag	3.5.2021
Sprache	englisch
Themenwelt	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie ► Esoterik / Spiritualität
ISBN-10	1-0983-7886-5 / 1098378865
ISBN-13	978-1-0983-7886-8 / 9781098378868

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