Never Give Up – Sunday, May 02, 1982
Several years ago, a young athlete crouched poised in the starting blocks at the beginning of the high hurdles competition. Behind him was a good part of his lifetime spent in dreaming, training, working, planning and building for this moment. Ahead of him was a chance for the highest of all trophies, an Olympic gold medal. At the gun he shot out of the blocks and streaked down the track. But he misjudged a hurdle, fell, and in a fraction of a second the dream of a lifetime slipped out of his grasp.
He was asked many times the obvious question, “Was it worth it?” Always his answer was the same, “Yes. It isn’t how many times you fall in this life that counts, it’s how many times you get up.”
Thus, it is with each of us. None of us is so talented and skilled that we will accomplish all our dreams without skinned knees, bumped noses, or occasionally falling flat on our faces. If we go through this life with no failures, it will mean simply that we set our goals too low.
One of history’s great examples of tenacity and perseverance is Winston Churchill. When England was on her knees, and most of the free world was reeling from the blows of the Nazi war machine, Churchill hurled his famous challenge to Hitler. Tough as an old English bulldog he stood before the House of Commons and thundered, “…we shall never surrender.”1 And they never did.
The same principle holds true whether we are defending a nation or building a life. It is the making, not the having; it is the trip and not the destination; it is the next pinnacle beyond the one on which we stand that give life its zest and gives promise to tomorrow.
And the greatest of all the gifts of God to us is the promise that those tomorrows can go on forever; that growth and continual climbing can be ours, and with them the ever-enlarging vistas and the joy that comes with accomplishment. So, when life is difficult and dreams are far distant, be assured that if they are good and worthy, they will come to pass even if it takes some portion of eternity.
1 Winston Churchill, Speech on Dunkirk. House of Commons, June 4,1940, quoted In Familiar Quotations, John Bartlett, Emily Morison Beck, (ed) Little Brown and Company Boston 1980. p 744
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May 02, 1982
Broadcast Number 2,750