Marlow's Musings 2/25/24
Insights, adventures and fun stuff from this week.
Audio narration by David Marlow
When We Believe
The story of Roger Bannister breaking the barrier of the 4-minute mile is one of my favorites. Not because it is a running achievement though it certainly was one.
More for what it shows us about achieving our dreams.
Bannister Believed
The 4-minute mile represents those mental barriers we create for ourselves. There was nothing magical about a human running a mile in four minutes. Many had nearly done it going two seconds over four minutes prior to Bannister’s record, including his running rival John Landy.
Bannister believed he could run 2 seconds faster.
While he trained, he couldn’t train particularly hard because he was in medical school, and his time was limited.
He knew he would have to take his chance when everything was right. The aforementioned Landy kept getting closer and closer. Bannister thought the record would fall to Landy for sure.
When Landy’s track season ended in April 1954 without the record, Bannister knew he had his window.
The Race
He selected a race held on May 6. With winds of up to twenty-five miles per hour (40 km/h) before the race, Bannister considered not running and conserving his energy to run at another meet.
As luck would have it, moments before the race, the winds stopped. Bannister decided to run.
As we all now know, Bannister made it. His time was 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.
Within 46 days, rival John Landy broke the 4-minute barrier with a world record time of 3 minutes 57.9 seconds.
Two months later, the two runners competed head-to-head in a race, finishing under 4 minutes, with Bannister narrowly winning.
A year later, three runners ran sub-four-minute miles in a single race.
Now Possible
It was once believed the four-minute mile was an impossible barrier. A few, like Bannister and Landy, knew better.
They believed and ultimately achieved it. Once they achieved it, others began to believe, and even more runners broke the once impossible 4-minute barrier.
Today, top-level high school runners routinely break four minutes.
The impossible takes a little longer.
Word of the Week
Zymurgy (n.)
ZY-mər-jee
1: The study or practice of fermentation, specifically in brewing, winemaking, or distilling.
The word’s origins derive from ideas of rising, integrating, and causing to bubble and boil.
Fun sidenote—Zymurgy is the last listed word in most standard English dictionaries.
In case you missed it…
This week’s Ikigai Thought for Today was Bright, Worthy, and Good.
In the middle of busy lives, it can be easy to forget a powerful truth.
There is only one of us in all of time and creation. This unique expression will never exist again through any other medium.
Gideon Heugh’s poem from Rumours of Light inspired this reflection.
Ikiquest+
This week’s Coffee Contemplation for Ikiquest+ subscribers continues a series by taking a unique look at Grace.
In prior weeks, I shared about Humility and Curiosity.
Ikiquest+ subscribers can listen to it in audio narration or read the transcription.
Comment of the Week:
This week, we have two comments, both from the ‘socks’ portion of last week’s Musing, where I paid tribute to a friend who passed away.
The first is from Matthew, who shared…
I had a good friend whose mantra was, "If you've lost your socks you won't find them in heaven.” To this day I have no idea what that means.
Nor do I, Matthew, though your friend’s mantra gave me a chuckle.
The second from Greg explained his sock process…
I only wear socks for suit and tie events. But when I do, they are all black for exactly the reasons you posted.
My friend Jeff would have been proud.
I appreciate both of you sharing your thoughts and adding richness to the conversation.
Quote I’m Pondering
This thought is from René Girard…
"The victims most interesting to us are always those who allow us to condemn our neighbors."
Interesting Thing I Saw This Week
Artist Sergey Jivetin has created the Furrow Seed Engraving Project. A visual art project involving the artistic carving of seeds.
Here’s the website description of the project…
“Partnering with Hudson Valley Seed Company, Seedshed and other horticultural organizations across the country, Furrow seed engraving project travels to different venues to engage various communities in a dialog about meaning of seeds and seed-saving advocacy. By highlighting contributions of both professional and enthusiast growers, Furrow project celebrates the vibrant biodiversity, inherent in traditional small-scale agriculture, thus advocating for sustainable and resilient production of ingredients for future societal food security.”1
The project has created extraordinary works of art while sharing a much-needed message.
Final Thoughts
Something I’ve dreamt of doing since I was a boy will finally become a reality. I can’t share details now, though I promise to share them as soon as possible.
If you are hoping for something that seems impossible, be encouraged. Your miracle may be just around the corner.
Sometimes, the impossible takes a little longer.
Quest well.
https://www.seedengraving.com/about
Think long term, act today.
Great post and we set out own barriers in life! Break ones barriers as we break the chains that hold us!