Don’t you just love one liners that wrap
wisdom and a bit of scolding into and easy to speak statement.I can remember one of my relatives using a
similar version of this when I was young (I’m sure after I said something that
started with I wish…). Now that I’m a grandfather I’m tuning up on
all the great old phrases that make me look wiser than I am. The more common current day version is If wishes were fishes all beggars would eat. I was surprised to find the original version
is part of a Scottish nursery rhyme that goes something like this:
If wishes were horses all beggars would ride
If turnips were swords I’d have
one by my side
If “ifs” and “ands” were pots
and pans
There would be no need for
tinker’s hands
You have to love the internet. It has a way of not only putting the most
esoteric information at your fingertips but at the same time correcting years
of society morphing original culture into modern day sound bites. We can’t even blame this one on texting or the
140 character limit of Twitter since today’s version was established long
before the internet.
So what has this got to do with the Boston
Marathon, marathoning in general, or my efforts at either? I’m glad you asked. Pretty much nothing….and maybe everything. How many of us have a dream, set a goal,
even made a proclamation of what we are going to do and spent more time
thinking and talking about it than actually taking steps to make it real. I know I have. Fear
could be a big part of it. Fear of
failure, fear of criticism, fear of the commitment or fear of just letting go
of what you have to try for something new.
There is no question that staying in our comfort zones get in the way of
dreams.
And of course we are great at justifying
our inaction to ourselves. We have that
little voice in our heads that says I’m too busy, too tired, too old, or have
too many other priorities at this point in my life. And he/she always ends with the ultimate
justification….I’ll get to it later. Yeah…right.
Between the fear and the
justification it’s a wonder mankind isn’t still back in the stone age.
There’s
a flip side to fear that is also a motivator.
The fear of not doing something, of being insignificant, of disappointing
someone, of losing what you already have.
It’s that motivation that can
turn the ordinary person into an Olympic track star when they need to escape a
dangerous situation.
I’ve heard lots of reasons why people
run marathons. To prove they can do it,
to improve their health, for the glory of the win, to test their personal
limits, and, in the case of charity runners, to help others. For me the motivation is to remember; or more
specifically not to forget. Committing
to the Boston Marathon assures that at least once a year I will do something
that not only reminds me of Nick but allows me to fund a charity in his name
that will keep his memory alive. Why do
this by running a marathon, and in particular one where you have to work to
qualify every year? Partially because Nick
loved athletic challenges and loved to live life large. But
mostly the fear of forgetting my son far outweighs the fears of not finishing
and requalifying, or the fear of getting
injured, or the struggles to train in the cold weather or the aches and pains
of old age. The side benefits of better
health, helping others, and eating all the ice cream I want aren’t bad either.
Let’s face it, sometimes no amount of effort
is going to make a wish come true. Short
of discovering time travel that certainly is the case for me. In the interim, I run marathons and along
the way, through the generosity of those who support me, hopefully make other people’s wishes and
dreams come true. So here is my version
of the Scottish nursery rhyme. It will
even fit in a Tweet.
If wishes were fishes all the world
would be fed
If dreaming made it happen we’d all stay
in bed
If words were the answer then
all dreams would come true
Turn wishes and dreams into things that
we do
