The 7.6%

This year, for the Western States 100, there was only a 7.6% chance for me to enter.  Of course, I tried out for it, and today, as I waited for the names to be called... out of the 275 names, my name was not a part of that.  For a moment, I heard Knoxville TN being called and my heart started beating really fast.  Unfortunately, it was someone else.  I had hoped that I might get lucky, but that was not the case.  Maybe I wasn't really ready for it anyway.  Either way, I'm not going, and I'll have to try again next year.  We'll see where that goes.

The thing is, 7.6% is an awful small chance, but there are a lot of people that took that chance and won.  Next year, should I try again, my chances would double, but we'll see what happens when that time comes.  Trying is always better than not trying.  Although you know what the results are, there's a big difference between 7.6% and 0%.  I would always choose the 7.6% because having a chance is more than not having a chance.

To take that chance is the strength you need.  Finding strength to attempt to do something that you might not achieve is something noteworthy.  Now THAT is truly what strength is.

Find that strength, make that leap of faith, and go for your dreams.  You may get it, you might not... but the fact is, you tried, you went for it... and that itself is a huge accomplishment.