…and Justice for All
Is your sense of fairness is getting in your way?
This morning, I was scrolling through Facebook and I came across an image of a man wearing mismatched shoes and socks.
You may have seen it too.
Jim Thorpe won 2 gold medals in the 1912 Olympics wearing mismatched shoes. In fact, one of the shoes was so big on him he had to wear multiple socks on that foot.
Here’s how the Smithsonian tells the story…
At the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, Thorpe made headlines by capturing gold medals in both the decathlon and the pentathlon.
Thorpe began the Olympics by crushing the field in the now-defunct pentathlon, which consisted of five events in a single day. He placed first in four of them, dusting his competition in the 1,500-meter run by almost five seconds.
A week later the three-day decathlon competition began in a pouring rain. Thorpe opened the event by splashing down the track in the 100-meter dash in 11.2 seconds—a time not equaled at the Olympics until 1948.
On the second day, Thorpe’s shoes were missing. Warner hastily put together a mismatched pair in time for the high jump, which Thorpe won. Later that afternoon came one of his favorite events, the 110-meter hurdles. Thorpe blistered the track in 15.6 seconds, again quicker than Bob Mathias would run it in ’48.
On the final day of competition, Thorpe placed third and fourth in the events in which he was most inexperienced, the pole vault and javelin. Then came the very last event, the 1,500-meter run. The metric mile was a leg-burning monster that came after nine other events over two days. And he was still in mismatched shoes.'
His is a powerful lesson of mindfulness, tenacity and intention.
Jim Thorpe wanted to win.
He recognized that opportunity only exists in the present moment and he kept his mind focused on his goal and away from distractions and excuses.
Here are some of the things he could have done:
· Focused on the rain being "yet another thing in my life that makes things harder – ruins my chances…"
· Spent his energy on thoughts of anger and blame over the theft of his shoes.
· Refused to compete, seeing himself as a victim of injustice.
He wouldn’t have been wrong if he had. It’s important to understand that right and wrong are inconsequential in the choices he made.
And therein lies this week’s work.
For each of us, our sense of justice – of fairness – is a value that runs deep. It is the compass by which we navigate the world around us. Because of that, we often are blind to the choices we make in support those values, many of which undermine the very outcomes that serve best.
This Week: Resisting the Urge to "Put Things Right"
Several times each day we are confronted with something we believe is wrong or unfair. It can show up as:
· Believing that there is a right way and a wrong way to get things done.
· A feeling that unfortunate events get in your way more often than they get in the way of others.
· A circumstance that directly confronts your values of justice and fair play.
When these things happen, no matter how big or small they are, our instinct is to right the wrong. And there’s nothing wrong with doing that – in fact, you may ultimately make that choice. The problem is that instinct happens on your default network. Meaning you often go about making things right at the cost of the outcome you most desire – an outcome that ultimately serves you better.
Try this 4 step process:
NOTICE – when your sense of, what is right, your assessment of fairness or your value of justice have been triggered.
BREATHE – to allow your body and mind to move out of default reaction and into the present moment
ASK – yourself the question "what serves best here – what moves me closer to the best possible outcome."
CHOOSE