WHAT WOULD MY LOVED ONES THINK?
The Right Perspective Series: Story 2
This is the story of winning with honour in a cross-country race on 2 December 2012 at Burlada.
Burlada is a municipality in Navarre Province, on the outskirts of the famous city of Pamplon, which stages the annual “Running of the Bulls” festival.
Leading the race was Abel Mutai of Kenya. Abel was a long-distance runner who specialised in the 3000 metres steeplechase – he had won the bronze medal at the 2012 London Summer Olympics.
During this cross-country race, Spanish athlete Iván Fernández was running second, some distance behind Abel.
Abel had mistakenly thought he had reached the end of the race when he was about 10 metres from the actual finish line. People were telling him to keep going, but he did not understand what they were saying as he did not know Spanish.
Iván could have taken advantage of the situation to overtake Abel and win the race…but he chose not to! Instead, Iván slowed down and guided Abel to the actual finish line.
A journalist asked Iván why he did not take the opportunity to win. He replied: “I didn’t deserve to win it. I did what I had to do. He was the rightful winner. He created a gap that I couldn’t have closed if he hadn’t made a mistake. As soon as I saw he was stopping, I knew I wasn’t going to pass him.”
Iván went on to say: “I didn’t let him win. He was going to win. What would be the merit of my victory? What would be the honour of that medal? What would my Mom think of that?”
May you choose to live a life of honour and integrity by always choosing to do the right thing and not take unfair advantage of others.
And if you have children, may you choose to teach your children the right moral values that will guide them to make upright choices – this will enable them to live a meaningful life with honour and dignity.
Perspective #2:
When you are in a moral dilemma, ask yourself: “Would I be proud to share what I am thinking of doing with the person I respect the most?”
You could also yourself: “If what I am thinking of doing is going to the top trending news item on the internet tomorrow, would my loved ones be proud of me or will they be ashamed of me?”
By: Lim Siong Guan & Joanne Lim (Co-Authors of “Winning with Honour” and “The Leader, The Teacher & You“)
For more information, please visit: www.TheRightPerspective.com.sg