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It had not always been so. In seventh grade, he was the fastest kid on his cross-country team and competed with the best runners from the other schools. In his last meet, he finished 12th out of 169 runners and the other 11 ahead of him were all a year older in eighth grade. He loved running and looked forward to getting better and faster.
Then, tragedy struck. A tumor was found in the back of his brain. This after a lifelong genetic disease had limited his physical activity his whole life.
Running was the first athletic thing he was able to do and now that was being taken away. He endured a year and a half of radiation and chemo. Because of his rare disease, sometimes the doctors weren't sure how to treat him.
There were difficult days, including 17 in a row where he was unconscious for most of it over the Christmas holiday. The tumor was removed quickly after being discovered. He made it through treatment and many months of physical therapy. For four years now, he's been in remission but cancer left its mark. His radiation and chemo treatment stole much of his physical strength, balance, speed, and endurance.
That seventh grade flyer is long gone. But he ran anyway. He joined his track team and competed as hard as he could. He ran his best every race and improved his personal best time. He cheered on his teammates and inspired them every time he ran. Though the clock said he came in last again and again, those who know him would tell you a much different story. So when his mom and I walked Sage out onto the track on senior night, we couldn't have been prouder.
In the bulletin noting his plans after high school graduation were these words of his own. In this life, you will experience hardship and tribulation, but don't let those life-altering experiences define you as a person. Write your own story. Defy the odds.
Sage Helster. Real winners are not the ones with the fastest times. They're the ones who keep running and always give their best. They never give up.
They take their tests and make it their testimony. They turn their tragedies into triumph. They inspire others to make the most of what they have. They believe there is purpose in all of life's challenges.
And they do their best while cheering others on to greatness. The clock may tell one story, but their lives tell another. This is the story of a runner who could have quit when tragedy struck and never set foot on a track again. Instead, he laced up his shoes and endured the humiliation of finishing last every time because he loved to run and inspire others. Sometimes he wonders what could have been. What if he never got cancer? How fast would he be able to run? Could he have won some medals and gone to state? Those questions will always linger in his head. But he gave us all with what he had.
That's all any of us can do. Sage has developed other skills in life that he's working on, things like music. He taught himself to play guitar and recorded some of his own songs.
He even performed them before his peers. He's worked extremely hard to develop that talent with years of hard work. And he's worked hard to make the most of it. He's worked his talent with years of hard work. And he knows that probably wouldn't have happened if it weren't for cancer.
His attitude, faith, and trust in God's purpose for his life has grown by leaps and bounds. And he's still running as fast as his remaining strength and endurance has grown. Clocks don't determine the winners.
People do by the way they choose to live. They're the ones who keep running and never give up, no matter what obstacles they face or what life throws at them. Sage will keep running his race. Let's all follow his example of a race with perseverance. Let's keep doing our best every day.
Forget about everyone else and stay focused on improving ourselves and getting better each day. Let's take what we've been given and make the most of it. To all the winners who never finish first, Roger. And a special thanks to Madison for her work on the production of that piece. And a special thanks to Roger Wrench in Iowa, a listener and a contributor. Thanks also to Sage for providing his example.
Write your own story, Sage said. Defy the odds. And Roger put it right. Clocks don't determine winners.
People do. And Sage will keep running his race. And that's what we all have to do in the end, folks. We have to keep running our race. My favorite quote on all of this comes from one of my heroes, John Wooden, who said about success.
Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable. And Sage's life is a living example. Sage's story, so many of us running our own race, maybe not getting the blue ribbon, are running anyway and running for the better.
And that's running anyway and running for the joy of it. This is Our American Stories. Give a lot. Help us keep the great American stories coming. That's OurAmericanStories.com. You don't want vacation to end, but with Amex Platinum, you earn five times membership rewards points on prepaid hotels and more booked through AmexTravel.com. So you're already planning the next one. Book your room with fine hotels and resorts through Amex Travel and get an upgrade when available, plus guarantee 4 p.m. checkout.
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Get this. Adults with financial literacy skills have 82% more wealth than those who don't. From swimming lessons to piano classes, us parents invest in so many things to enrich our kids' lives. But are we investing in their future financial success? With Greenlight, you can teach your kids financial literacy skills like earning, saving, and investing.
And this investment costs less than that after-school treat. Start prioritizing their financial education and future today with a risk-free trial at Greenlight.com slash iHeart. Greenlight.com slash iHeart. Do you own a business that's ready to thrive? It's time to let Intuit QuickBooks take things like unpaid invoices and tracking expenses off your plate so you can take things to the next level. Intuit QuickBooks is an all-in-one business platform that can help with those day-to-day tasks like invoicing and expenses. Manage and grow your business all in one place. Intuit QuickBooks. Your way to money.
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