Why- Mark's response

I've spent a few days thinking about this and when it finally clicked I was like "that was easy".  By the way, it clicked during my 18 mile run this morning J  Anyway, here it goes.

 

Why do I do this?

 

Let me preface by saying that I'm very proud of where I am, what my family and I have overcome, and of what I stand for however I have an innate longing to constantly be better.  You ask - why do we do this?  I answer - to be better than I am.

 

I want to be better tomorrow than I am today – whether that means being able to run a mile farther or faster, spending 10 more minutes playing with my daughter, reading 10 minutes more about something I didn't know, or drinking one less drink when I'm out on the town.  Whatever it is I want to know I'm improving.

 

I haven't really told anybody this before but when I got into college I quickly realized that I didn't like computers.  Not that I dislike them but I'm not all giddy about technology and how they work like many of my classmates were.  So I had a decision to make – get out of the Computer Science field or buck up and do it.  I had told people I was going to do it and I could tell that it was going to be a pain (multivariable calculus, discrete math, physics, etc…) and the challenge excited me.  I knew that I'd be better off in the end if I did something hard.  I joined a fraternity not because it was a cool place to party but because I thought it would help make me be a better people person and learn leadership skills.  That theme has been pretty consistent my whole life.  I'm not a big fan of complacency.

 

I know that a lot of people choose the oft' traveled road.  When you go to a big marathon and you see 10,000 people you are like "wow – everybody does this" but when you think about everyone you've interacted with this week/month – how many of them do it?  Not many and that's cool.  That means I'm doing something to improve myself that most people won't do.  I'm choosing the road less traveled.  I'm hoping it will make all the difference.

 

I believe God has numbered our days.  He wants me to make the most of everyday He's given me.  Whether I go tomorrow or 50 years from now I want to know that I dared to become a little better every day.  I'm certain I'll have set backs but the line graph will definitely show steady improvement over time.

 

I do it – to be better than I am.

 

Mark