Successful Momentum

Success and Momentum go hand in hand.

When I think of “momentum” and being “successful” I always think of the bible verse found in Galatians 5:7,8

“7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.”

And when I think of that verse I always remember a summer track meet I attended when I was in elementary school.

It was held at the BIG High School track and was full of kids from all over the district.

My mom was with me, watching me run my races.

I didn’t do to bad… I won a First Place Blue Ribbon, a Red Second Place Ribbon and during the third race…

Well the third race is when the memory of that day was cemented in place.

In those days we ran the 30, 40, 50, and 100 hundred yard dash.

If memory serves I believe we were running the 100 yard dash.

We all lined up, every lane with a runner in it. I was positioned somewhere in the middle of the pack at the start line.

As the starting ref called us to the line I remember feeling squeezed in, having to sort things out with the other runners. When we practiced with our teacher/coach Mr. Westover we only ran singles… to capture our times.

“RUNNERS READY!”

Everyone got down in the sprinters stance… being kids we didn’t use blocks or anything.

“GET SET!”

We all tensed up.

“BANG!”

The starting pistol went off and we were gone!

The race started outed fine and I was running hard. Everyone in this race was well matched. I didn’t know most of the kids. There was two I did know from my school, and one of those kids was in a lane to my left.

Then at the half way marker…

BAM! SHOVE!

The runner on my immediate left cut in on me and shoved me out of my lane. I stumbled to the right knocking the next runner over… but it cleared the lane.

When I looked up I saw my classmate still ahead and doing well. I knew I was faster than he was (there is a different story concerning why I knew that) so I set my sights on him, bore down, and tried to catch him as we all boiled toward the finish line, like a pack of Beagle hounds, chasing a rabbit!

I was able to fight through the crowded lanes, gain on my classmate and when the dust settled… had come in second place! Pretty cool! Man I was sucking wind!

Then my coach/teacher Mr. Westover came over and said, “Good job, but you’re disqualified.”

“Why?”

“You can’t leave your lane.”

“I didn’t leave it! That kid shoved me out of it! Besides nobody told me that!”

“I thought you knew, I guess we didn’t talk about that. Sorry.”

I was about 11 years old and I was mad as hell. Plus I know I was faster than the kid who won… so who knows.

The Online Etymology Dictionary has “momentum” as From Latin – “movement, moving power- SEE “moment” with PIE root *meue meaning “to push away.”

Up until a few weeks ago I had great momentum going in my writing. Since then I have been slightly buffeted by a few, light jabs, of life.

Nothing major… life is just throwing that jab out there to let me know it’s there, it has caused me to move my feet a bit, and instead of being in a nice balanced power stance ready to throw a left hook to the body… I have had to pivot away, gauge my distance, and re-assess my positioning… as it relates to my writing goal of creating a part time revenue stream.

In the book, The Art of War, General Sun Tzu states, concerning energy/momentum…

“In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining the battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory.”

One of the things that has changed my writing schedule, substantially, is my four month old granddaughter is staying with us… along with my son, his wife, and their Plott Hound.

Being with Christ and knowing He has a bigger plan for me… allows me to not sweat life’s jabs, but to use them to assess where I’m at. To appreciate some of those indirect methods of success.

You may notice a different look to the website, the time I have had available I have invested in working on all three of my sites, to try and learn more, to clean them up a little bit, and to be ready when I start getting more traffic.

You know, just… doing and learnin’ and changing diapers.

The thing with momentum is the fact that you may get going too fast which makes it easier for life, or an opponent, or an obstacle to “push you away” from your goals… I’m learning to throttle down a little bit… and recognize when my opponent is trying to “move me” with his own momentum, into a place where I don’t want to be.

The solution is so simple it often gets missed… I taught it to my five kids, and I’ll teach it to my grand-kids… and anyone else who will listen.

Here it is… remember these two words when life, goals, your weight, or anything else starts to get away from you…

“Just stop.”

Found out later in life if I would have just stopped, got back into my lane, and completed the race… I wouldn’t have been disqualified.