Just keep swimming (running)

I was really tired yesterday, and ended up taking a 4 hour nap, so I ended up being up until almost 2 this morning. In the middle of the night, I was scrolling through channels, and ran across Ed Young, a religious speaker. I have watched him before, and find him very interesting, but some of what he says doesn't ring true for me, so I usually don't watch for very long.
Last night/this morning he was talking about his son who has a disease that keeps him about 3 years behind his peers in motor skills. He was talking about how his son had decided to join the track team "because they let everyone on the team", and how Ed was aching for his son because he knew his son could never truly compete against his peers, but he said yes, bought all the clothes, etc. that he would need, and nervously anticipated the first track meet.
As his son lined up with the other boys for the 100 meter, he was obviously half their size, and again Ed felt his stomach clench for his son, and the sure embarrassment and humiliation he was going to feel once the race was run. Sure enough, as the other boys crossed the finish line, his son was just crossing the 15 meter line. Ed and his wife hugged each other in grief for their son, sure they would have a tearful boy to greet when they got down to the track. Then as they stood to walk down there, they realized their son had not just given up and stopped running. He kept up his uneven pace, giving it his all, until he also crossed the finish line. Then he found the winner and shook his hand.
This made me think of many times in my life when I have felt like someone else has "crossed the finish line" before me, like a friend who has been married for more than 20 years to the same man, or another who owns his own business and is VERY comfortable financially. I find myself mentally and emotionally slowing down and thinking, "I will never reach that goal as fast or as well as they did, so why try"
Anyone who has seen "Finding Nemo" knows the fish Dori, and that she wasn't exactly "normal", but her favorite saying was "Just keep swimming". That, and the story Ed Young told made me think about all the people I have known and worked with who have had a disability of some kind. When you watch them "run a race" of any kind, you find that no matter how far behind they are, they just keep going. I used to think it was because they didn't realize they had already lost, but now I can't help but wonder if they already know something I wish I had learned a long time ago. Each "race" we run is really a race of one. We only have to do our best until we reach the finish line.
Of course, it is a wonderful feeling to know you came in first, and if you are running in a "team event" (such as being a parent), other people are counting on you to finish faster, better, stronger, but ultimately, they have to run their own race too. The only way to guarantee you will lose is if you never finish the race. I truly think there is a difference between getting 25th place out of 25 people, and losing.
SO DON'T STOP RUNNING JUST BECAUSE EVERYONE ELSE HAS CROSSED THE FINISH LINE. KEEP RUNNING.