Intent of the Day: Never Give Up

“My intent is to not give up. I need to believe that i can do this.”

At some point or other, we have all thought about giving up. No matter what the task is, we get to a point where we can no longer see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to make it to the finish line.

The Olympics are just around the corner and they are full of inspirational stories. One of these stories is of Derek Redmond. Ten years ago, at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Derek Redmond was making a second attempt to fulfill his Olympic dream. He was forced to pull out of the 1988 Olympics in Seoul due to an injury to his Achilles tendon. He had gone through multiple surgeries, but was in good shape at Barcelona and was favored to win the 400 meters dash. He won the quarter-finals and moved onto the semi-finals.

He started the race well and ran for about 150 meters before his hamstring snapped. He stopped and fell down in agony. After a few seconds down, he remembered where he was and got back up and continued running. Unable to run, he hobbled on. The other competitors had finished but Derek did not stop. Even though the competition was over, he just wanted to finish. A man fought off security and ran onto the track towards Derek. It was his father, Jim Redmond. He told Derek to stop and that he did not have anything to prove. Derek replied and told him that he did. His father helped him get back to his lane and Derek finished the race despite an injured hamstring and terrible pain. The crowd of 65,000 stood up and gave him a standing ovation. Even though Derek was officially disqualified and Olympic records state that he “Did Not Finish” the race, he finished it better than anyone else on that track.

Share your intent at Intent.com.

Photo by Schmuelick