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To put it simply, I am blessed, I have a wonderful family and run marathons for a living but running is only a part of who I am; I love what I do but putting one foot in front of the other does not define me. I have spent the last few summers in Europe racing and training. I love to run, it was one of the things I was created to do, nothing like 2 hours and 13 minutes of 26.2 mile fun!
It didn't take long for me to get asked if I was the guy on "The Bachelorette" show...so yes, that was me, a very cool experience, just don't believe everything you see or hear. A cool group of guys and great producers on that show, it was a total blast.
Given the nature of my profession my life is pretty public and as such so is my theism. But I must admit, I hesitated when I checked the box for being a Christian. I'm not a fan of the word. I don't even know what Christian means anymore. Oh, I know what its supposed to mean... but that definition has faded away. The word is tossed around like a wet rag, it has become diluted, its heart has been removed. Just call me a Christ follower - that way there will be no confusion. If I lived 2000 years ago I would have dropped my fish nets and followed the Carpenter around. In a sense that's what I'm doing today. My desire to be faithful with the gifts entrusted to me is why I train everyday. Despite the popular prosperity sentiment pervading our culture, my relationship with God isn't about what He can do for me. It's the other way around. Our relationship changed for the better the day I realized I'm not Aladdin and He's not the genie.
Christ... who was this guy anyway? Some lead nations, some lead armies, some write books, while others philosophize but Jesus comes, shows His face for 33 years and serves as the bookmark at the center of history and gets the timelines named after Him. He conquered the world with love. To conquer with force is one thing but to conquer with love is a different matter entirely. Not bad work for a bearded carpenter. The guy didn't come to start a religion, He came because of love. His love for us.
Love was His message then and love is His message today. He showed the way, He paved the way, He is the Way. I think if we all loved each other half as much as we loved ourselves the world would be a far better place and there would be a whole lot more smiles going around. :)
More about me... I love writing and widmer, sports and sunsets, pier sitting and pier jumping, I have three tattoos. I love, love, love music and the beach. Music takes you places words could never go. I grew up in San Diego, and still live in SoCal. I am biased but SoCal is the most beautiful place on earth.
I've had the opportunity since 2000 to focus on my training and I thank God everyday that I get to do what I love. I thank Him for giving me the gift of running and probably more importantly the ability, desire and passion to run, train and get out on the road every morning. The more I run the more I realize that it isn't about running at all, it's about life, about being faithful with what you have been given, being the absolute best you can be. Mistakes will happen, failure will come but failure is a fact of life, not a way of life. Some of the best advice I ever heard was during my college years... "Never, never, never, ever, ever, quit." When you get knocked down, get up... What does it take to get someone to quit? That is the test of a man. Coming up short at the last Olympic Trials was tough but the feeling I had after that race is what drives me, what motivates me to give all I have in training everyday. Losing makes you look inside, makes you evaluate. Show me someone who hates to lose and I will show you a champion. If I may take a quote from Lombardi:
"Winning is not a sometime thing; its an all-the-time thing. You dont win once in a while, you dont do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit, unfortunately so is losing."
Most people lose not because they attempt and fail but rather because they fail to show up all together. They allow the fear of failure to overcome them and they become apathetic, they find it easier to let go of their dreams than to attempt greatness and fall short. It breaks my heart when I meet people who have given up on their dreams. Always follow your heart and believe in your dreams, everyday you must grab your dream and hold onto it with everything you have, people will try and steal your dreams from you, they will say you can't, you're not qualified, you're a dreamer. I remember telling people in '98 that I was putting off grad school to try and qualify for the 2000 Olympic Trials, they told me that was a bad idea, that I should go to school. For every dreamer there are a hundred critics. One of my favorite quotes is from a great former president:
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat."
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
I thank God for the critic, without them there would be no one to prove wrong.
Knowing that I am faithful with what God entrusts to me is the most important thing, He says "Well done good and FAITHFUL servant" not "Well done good and SUCCESSFUL servant." Success IS being faithful. There will always be those with more talent, those with greater raw tools but we are responsible for ourselves. Hard work closes the gap to the more talented, you just have to want it more than they do, work harder than them plain and simple. Claw, scrape, and bleed to get the job done. Treat your talents as the special gift they are, treat your relationships with the care and love they deserve, in the end relationships are all we have. Give everything, follow your heart, risk, put all your chips on the line...that is when we live. Chase your passions, do the the thing that makes you come alive, do the thing you are not sure you can do. Do that and you truly live. Do that and you have already won. Risk is good, risk is living.
I have been blessed far beyond anything I could have ever hoped for or imagined. As long as I have breath in my lungs I will live from the heart that God gave me. He has given me a passion and a fire for life, I will never compromise my dreams, and never compromise my heart.
Every person has the ability to be great at something, it is up to us to figure out what that something is and dedicate our lives to achieving that greatness.
Find your something, ignore the cold and timid souls, believe in your dreams and get busy making them a reality.
And above all else... love one other because Love wins in The End.
(copyright 2005 joshcox.com)
1997 MOUNTAIN MASOCHIST 50 MILER RACE REPORT
TALENT IS GOD GIVEN...BE HUMBLE
FAME IS MAN GIVEN...BE THANKFUL
CONCEIT IS SELF GIVEN...BE CAREFUL
The brothers and sister's with the bride. CLICK THE PIC AND VIEW THE WEDDING SLIDESHOW
"By experts in poverty I do not mean sociologists, but poor men." -GK Chesterton
