Get Up and Win the Race!

A man who spoke in sacrament meeting today read a poem called, "The Race."  This poem was one that I first heard five or six years ago, as a laurel.  I loved the poem at the time, but I had forgotten about it until today.  It always amazes me all of the little things that my Savior adds to my daily life to let me know that He is there and that He loves me.  Reading this poem over the pulpit was a relatively simple act, but today it spoke numbers to me about how much the Savior loves me, and that message could not have come at a better time. 

The poem is kind of long, so I won't include the whole thing here, but if you'd like, you can read it here.  The poem is about a little boy at a race.  He desires to come in first place to make his dad proud.  He starts off the race at the front of the pack, right on pace to win; however, he comes across a dip in the path and falls flat on his face.  While he's humiliated, he realizes that he can still catch up with the others.  In his hurry to catch up, the boy falls two more times.  Each time the boy rises again and keeps going, at the father's encouragement to, "Get up and win that race."  Even though he comes in last place, the boy's father says, "To me, you won.  You rose each time you fell."

I can relate to this boy in so many ways.  Last year at this time I kind of felt like the boy at the beginning.  I was right on pace to "win the race."  I was about to graduate from BYU - something that I had dreamed about since I was really young - in a field that I had truly grown to love.  I had submitted applications to grad schools and I had high hopes that I would be accepted to continue to my education at BYU.  When I did not get accepted into BYU, it was like the first time the boy fell.  It was devastating and kind of humiliating, but I soon realized that it was something that could be overcome.  While it was not what I planned, I could still catch up and "win the race."

My first semester of grad school provided a few more stumbling blocks.  I felt like I was knocked down several times, but each time I was able to get up and keep going with relative ease.  This semester has been different.  I've had some internal struggles that I have never dealt with to this degree before.  It often feels like as soon as I get back up, something is there to knock me down again.  I often start to question if I can keep getting up, if I really am strong enough to keep going.

In the January 2012 Ensign, President Monson said, "Sometimes courage is that little voice at the end of the day that says, 'I'll try again tomorrow.' "  This simple message is one of great hope for me.  Everyday is not going to be perfect.  I'm going to fall.  Then get up and fall again.  But the important thing is that I keep getting up, keep trying to go forward, with faith in Christ.  This poem today helped me realize that this is not something I am doing on my own.  My Heavenly Father, my Savior, my family, and so many others are there to help me, "Get up and win that race."