Stefaan Engels, a Belgian man (with asthma no less) has just run 365 marathons in a year (see the story here). Holyyyy crap! To break the world record, he would have only had to run something like 40 consecutive marathons…. but no this guy decided to be a champ and run a marathon a day for a year. Talk about an over-achiever!

When I heard this story I was AMAZED. I don’t even know how much it would take for me to run ONE marathon let alone 365. But Stefaan has something to offer us all. Don’t ever do just the bear minimum. Be CRAZY, be ridiculous, amaze people, have a story worth telling. Too many people trudge through life blending in with the crowd, doing whatever it is they have to do to get by and nothing more. Not everyone is a record breaker, not everyone goes out of their way to be three times greater than great. It takes a lot of effort… effort that we just don’t have time for in our day to day lives. But why can’t we be great in the things we do every day? Why not put 100% effort into the boring monotonous things we do? I decided, for example, after hearing this story, that I was going to be extremely productive in my work this week, with a goal to have all my school work for NEXT week done by friday. I mean, its not as insane as running 365 marathons, but I might as well go big or go home.

There’s a man who works at Sunday River (a mountain where I frequently go skiing) who I admire just as much as I admire the 365-marathon-man. He works as a custodian in the White Cap Lodge. He is a big guy who seems very quiet and keeps to himself. Yet, he is there every single day, doing the job that most people wouldn’t dream of having as kids. As soon as someone leaves a table after they finish eating, he is there in a second wiping it down for the next person. I have never seen a dirty table, floor, or toilet at that lodge. Thats because I have never seen him sit down, complain, or slack off. Every time I see this guy he’s working his butt off, being the best damn custodian there is, and with a smile on his face!

Stefaan Engells and the White Cap Custodian have a lesson to teach the world: Be better than the best. Or at the very least, strive to do so. In Stefaans case, if you’re going to run a marathon, you might as well run 365 of them (okay maybe we won’t go THAT far). But if you’re going to do something as simple as wiping down a table, you might as well make each table the cleanest table in Maine. If I’m going to have CF, I might as well do everything in my power to not let it ruin my life. Make the most of what you got, be the best at what you do, and if you aren’t #1 at least you can’t say that you never tried.

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