a common thread.

June 13, 2005

June 12, 2005

What a crazy weekend! This morning I ran the “Muddy Buddy” Race in San Jose with my alumni friend, Minji Wong. It was cccrraazzzy! We basically traded off running and biking for 6 miles (on a hill I want to add) with obstacle courses (wall climb, mud trenches, rope climb, monkey bars) in-between….in the end we crawled through 20 feet of messy, dirty mud to the finish line. It was hilarious because it was like a community shower at the water hoses after the race.

The interesting thing about me and Minji, is that she is a runner and I am a biker…so we complimented each other very well. We both compensated for each others weaknesses with our personal strengths. We placed well! (Fourth in the division of Females 55 and under) And I know that without her, I would not have been able to compete as well…

The absolute best feeling was knowing that somewhere along the trail she was there pushing just as hard as me: and depending on me to push just as hard as her. We could not finish the race without each other: and after the mud crawl we held hands with arms in the air, laughing past the finish line.

I met Minji because we kept on seeing each other at ‘kickboxing classes’ in the Rec Hall at UC Davis. Since then our friendship has evolved and continued to be changed and challenged. I consciously choose who I want to surround myself with because I consider them part of ‘my team,’ a team that possesses different characteristics, qualities and skills that will help me, and them, succeed in winning this game of life.

What I feel is one of the most important factors when trying to build and maintain a winning ‘Life Team’: is to not only acknowledge a common thread that binds you, but also celebrate and support each other’s ‘uniqueness.” Most people only embrace qualities that makes them similar versus qualities that separates them. People are initially drawn to each other because they each fulfill a desire or need of the other person…but once that changes, (and it will change) unless you can modify a common thread, that need will disappear… and so will the friendship.

We are all born with certain skills that will elevate us towards completing our personal missions in life…but while we can try to play each position in life, it’s more efficient to play one that your good at, be mediocre at the rest, and count on others that you trust to utilize their skills to set you up for success. If you are blessed to find honest people who are genuine, hardworking, trustworthy, unconditional and driven, then SCORE!….you just might win the game. I know I scored a huge point this weekend.