The Race 1. "Quit! Give up! You're beaten!" They shout at me and plead "There's just too much against you now This time you can't succeed" And as I start to hang my head In front of failure's face My downward fall is broken By the memory of a race And hope refills my weakened will As I recall that scene: For just the memory of that short race Rejuvenates my being 2. A children's race - young boys, young men How I remember well. Excitement, sure! But also fear: It wasn't hard to tell. They all lined up so full of hope Each thought to win that race Or tie for first, or if not that, At least take second place. And fathers watched from off the side Each cheering for his son And each boy hoped to show his dad That he would be the one The whistle blew and off they went Young hearts and hopes afire To win and be the hero there Was each young boy's desire And one boy in particular Whose dad was in the crowd Was running in the lead and thought: "My dad will be so proud!" But as they speeded down the field Across a shallow dip The little boy who thought to win Lost his step and slipped Trying hard to catch himself His hands flew out to brace And amid the laughter of the crowd He fell flat on his face So down he fell and with him hope - He couldn't win it now - Embarrassed, sad, he only wished To disappear somehow. But as he fell his dad stood up And showed his anxious face Which to the boy so clearly said: "Get up and win the race." He quickly rose, no damage done Behind a bit that's all - And ran with all his mind and might To make up for his fall So anxious to restore himself To catch up and to win - His mind went faster than his legs: He slipped and fell again! He wished then that he had quit before With only one disgrace "I'm hopeless as a runner now; I shouldn't try to race." But in the laughing crowd he searched And found his father's face; That steady look that said again "Get up and win the race!" So up he jumped to try again Ten yards behind the last - "If I'm to gain those yards, " he thought "I've got to move real fast." Exerting everything he had He gained eight or ten, But trying hard to catch the lead He slipped and fell again! Defeat! He lay there silently A tear dropped from his eye - "There's no sense running anymore: Three strikes: I'm out why try!" The will to rise had disappeared All hope had fled away So far behind, so error prone; A loser all the way "I've lost, so what's the use, " he thought "I'll live with my disgrace." But then he thought about his dad Who soon he'd have to face "Get up" an echo sounded low "Get up and take your place; You were not meant for failure here. Get up and win the race." "With borrowed will get up, " it said "You haven't lost at all For winning is no more than this: To rise each time you fall." So up he rose to run once more, And with a new commit He resolved that win or lose At least he wouldn't quit So far behind the others now The most he'd ever been - Still he gave it all he had And ran as though to win Three times he'd fallen, stumbling; Three times he rose again; Too far behind to hope to win He still ran to the end They cheered the winning runner As he crossed the line first place Head high, and proud, and happy; No falling, no disgrace But when the fallen youngster Crossed the line last place, The crowd gave him the greater cheer, For finishing the race And even though he came in last With head bowed low, unproud, You would have thought he'd won the race To listen to the crowd And to his dad he sadly said, "I didn't do too well." "To me, you won, " his father said. "You rose each time you fell." 3. And now when things seem dark and hard And difficult to face The memory of that little boy Helps me in my race For all of life is like that race, With ups and downs and all. And all you have to do to win Is rise each time you fall. "Quit! Give up! You're beaten!" They still shout in my face. But another voice within me says; "GET UP AND WIN THE RACE"