Ownership

The words of advice before a race are always interesting.  I have been doing this long enough that I have heard it all.  In an effort to overcome the terrible tension that comes before the start of an endurance race there is a lot of advice, encouragement, and even prayer being tossed around in hopes of establishing a foothold to overcome any bad thoughts.

I used to get pretty worked up, at least by my standards.  When I was in high school I thought those races were the biggest thing I’d ever do so I was tense and worked way too hard with way too little recovery.  Fast forward a few years and I was racing my bike with hopes of climbing the ladder to become a professional and heaped on some more tension.  Along the way I got married and my bike races were actually a way to pay for rent so there was pressure there.  Jan and I found ourselves in Switzerland for a big running and riding race and thinking that my participation in that race would be a “one and done” meant a lot of anxiety about producing a result.  There were marathons in those years where I hoped to hit a personal best and even silly little races where the expectation was thrust upon me to be at the pointy end of the race.

You may not have toed the line for a race but I bet you know what it’s like to have that tension.  Anxiety starts beating its drum in your heart and fear starts brewing in your brain.  And if my history and what I heard at this latest race is any indication the most common way to combat this dreadful condition is to own it.  I’ve tried this approach many times in races, business, and maybe you have as well. 

Have you noticed this in your surroundings?  “Owning It” comes in many phrases and pump-ups.  We can tell ourselves “We got this” or “Just do it” and then after we succeed we can say we are a “self-made man” or prescribe our recipe for success for the next guy so they can “own it” as well.  Owning it is grabbing life by the horns with both hands and telling it who’s boss!

Except it doesn’t always seem to end well when we own it.  We run out of energy.  Life zigs when we are trying to zag.  Accidents happen.  People happen!  Seasons change, our bodies change, and “owning it” eventually shows us that we never really had it to begin with. 

So that’s why I chuckle when I think about all of the advice and knowledge being spread around the start line of my latest race.  “Owning it” was in full speed there with some serious preparation and serious planning.  And I need to clarify; it is good to plan!  And sitting on our hands and doing nothing is not a viable option either.  But living the plan over living our life as God intended can be different!

So the part that makes me laugh is that I was on the starting line with a borrowed bike and a borrowed cycling kit.  I owned my shoes and socks and that was about it!  When I pursued this race I used my son’s bike to qualify but that bike was not a good choice for this much longer and much more difficult course.  After that initial adventure a friend of mine offered his bike as my tool of choice.  This was great because I wanted the experience of this race more than I wanted to find a way to buy a several thousand-dollar mountain bike and his bike was PERFECT for the terrain.

Once at the race another friend of mine thought it would be cool if I wore his team’s cycling kit.  While it’s not totally normal to borrow cycling clothes I ended up wearing another man’s cycling duds.  Don’t worry, they were washed multiple times before and after the race!

In a world of ownership I was happy to be there, on a borrowed bike and borrowed clothes, to do something I loved on this borrowed time on earth.

The race turned out to be a showcase of the difference between ownership and stewardship.  I rode light on my feet and protected the bike that had been loaned to me.  I didn’t crash and tear apart a pricey cycling kit.  And on another level I made the most of my ability on the day.  I didn’t add ownership or pressure to the situation, I simply managed what I had been given between the resources, the equipment, and the time.  Instead of grabbing hold of the race with both hands I felt like one hand was holding on loosely and the other was waving in celebration.   There was every opportunity there to hold on tightly and try to bend my body and the race to my will but stewardship doesn’t work that way.  God establishes the work of our hands or our feet and we just have to hold on loosely and keep pedaling.

So when the dust settled I experienced a fantastic race but one that keep teaching valuable lessons.  We don’t have to own “it” or the outcome.  We can be stewards of what we’ve been given.   Faith isn’t measured by the stuff we own and we certainly don’t have to own certain things in order to be successful.  God always has had “it” and when we work diligently with one hand it allows us to worship Him with the other hand. 

What are you owning today?  Can you maybe let go just a bit to recognize that the outcome is dependent on Who owns it and not just your output?