Nothing is Guaranteed

In this past school year, and especially this last semester, reality has been creeping up on me. The overriding theme of this said reality is, "nothing is guaranteed." Though I would have been loathe to admit it, when I arrived here at Drury in the Fall, I felt like all I had to do was go to class. And after four years of going to class I would graduate and move on to a job that would support me and a modest living. In a similar fashion I felt secure in my personal life. However, I've been reminded of one of my own philosophies from times gone by, "nothing is guaranteed."


I came to this philosophy years ago because of, you guessed it, Cross-Country or Running in general. I trained and ran harder than any of the guys on our team, when they ran five miles I ran ten, when they showed up three times a week, I showed up twice a day five days a week and then ran my own long run on the weekend. Yet, they still beat me. In season, when it came down to it, I was fifth man on a seven man team. No matter how hard I tried it was never guaranteed that I be better than those I out-worked. After I understood this there was some heartache, essentially I came to understand that I was no good at what I loved, but eventually it became a badge of honor, I was a work horse that loved what he did and it didn't matter that they were faster. I'm a workhorse.

Just keep plowing..... Just keep plowing....

No matter how hard I try, I still might not make it. But if I don't try at all then I for certain will not make it. That is the biggest change in me. As much as you'd think that would be a motivator, initially there is the heartache. I'm not good enough to coast. I feel like I should be that good, but it isn't so. I don't have Kevin's natural intellect, I'm not outgoing like Chezney, or responsible like Heather. To have a chance at succeeding I have to show up ten times as much as the next guy. What good is a workhorse that doesn't work?

He doesn't look like he's good for much. 

The hour is too late for me to truly salvage this school year as it should have been. But, I've learned and the change in more than philosophy, that is a change in how I act, is occurring.

D. Logan Whittmore


A Note: Near the end of the Cross-Country season referenced in this post, I finished a race as our third man rather than as our fifth. This particular race was on the hilliest course I've ever seen, those individuals that logged fewer miles than myself succumbed to the hills. There were 65 runners in the race; at the half mile mark I was in 50th, I finished 33rd. I passed over a quarter of the field. :)