2011 Proceedings - National FFA Organization

wyAtt dEJong continuEd
plan. From waking up at 5:30 a.m. for a
morning workout to stretching my sore
muscles for hours, training for this bad
boy was even worse than I thought. The
clock was ticking and before I knew it,
it was just three days before the race. I
woke up that morning and you know, I
have to go for it. If I can finish my 10 mile
run this afternoon, I will run in the race.
Now I can promise you that that run did
not look pretty. Drenched with sweat,
tongue hanging out like an old dog and
it looked like I had been stuck in the
Sahara Desert for days…but I finished the
10 miles and the only thing going through
my head was: “Oh, this is on like Donkey
Kong.”
As I arrived at the start of the race, I
immediately felt out of place. Now these
are real runners. Look at them in their
form fitting spandex, their nutrition packs.
Of course they’re all skinny and wait just
the challenge of doing more
is real. the value of doing
more is real.
one second! Did you know that people
actually jog to “warm up” for a HALF
MARATHON?!?! I am not cut out for this;
I am clearly the only one even over 200
pounds and I completely overlooked
how to prepare the morning of the race.
“The race will begin in two minutes.” Oh
great. Well, this looks like a good spot;
not too close to the front and in the very
center of the crowd so others don’t see
me. “Ladies and gentleman, on your
marks (‘Right, like people actually start at
a “mark”), get set (‘why am I doing this,
there is no way that I can finish’), BANG!
(‘holy smokes, this is really happening’).”
• Three miles in: “Eh, this is alright.”
• Five miles in: “Wow, this was a
bad idea.”
• Seven miles in: “How about that…
the pain has gone away.”
• Eight and a half miles in: “Uff da…I
may need to walk for just a bit.”
• Twelve miles in: “Okla. Wyatt, you
have made it this far…let’s finish
this!”
It was at this point that I finally realized
that this was possible; ya sure you
betcha. Even though so many people
doubted…and quite frankly, I thought that
there was zero chance of this happening.
Wyatt; you have only ever pushed
yourself to do things that you knew you
could accomplish. It is time to push
yourself beyond what you think is possible
and just discover what actually is
possible. I am sick doing just enough
to impress others or just enough to get
by. I am going to do more; I am going
to reach this goal. After 13.1 miles: “I
FINISHED!!!!!!”
Looking back, I realized more is
reachable…more for every one of us.
How often do we think that it is not possible
or that we are not talented enough
to do this or that? Maybe you think that
you are too young, too insignificant,
inadequate or mediocre to do more; to
do tough and great things. Sometimes it
comes from those around us. We must
do this simply because that is the way
that it has always been. We can’t do that
because it has never happened before.
There are countless examples of people
that make us rethink ‘possible’ and
reevaluate what is reachable. Throughout
history, what if everyone believed that
we were at our limit? Maybe the Wright
Brothers would never have taken that first
flight, maybe Edison would never have
invented the light bulb or maybe even
Henry Groseclose, C.H. Lane and many
others would never have pursued creating
the National FFA Organization. They
all believed in seeing what was possible
instead of defining what was impossible.
They did more and they found out that
more is reachable and they stepped up to
the challenge.
What about you? What more can you
do? Well, it can be as simple as taking on
more responsibilities and meeting those
that we already have. Set a physical,
mental, emotional or spiritual goal that
42 Believe Proceedings 2011
you’re not sure you can reach. Not just
living up to your responsibilities but taking
hold of whatever project it is and doing
your absolute best to exceed expectations.
Hmm…exceed expectations, I
wonder if I can spell that? E-X-C-E-E-D…
exceed expectations. Just imagine, what
would it be like if we all would do more?
Now I know, doing more is certainly
no easy task. Trying something and pouring
yourself into it is a huge risk. The
prospect of failing makes me cringe. We
can all think of those vivid times where
we failed. From learning to play the piano
to trying to lose weight, I know what it is
like to fail.
Two years ago, I ran for national FFA
office. Planning my life around this one
goal was definitely time-consuming.
Finally, convention came around and my
name was not called. I was devastated.
I mean, I knew that that was the best
and that my purpose was something else
but I was crushed. I had spent so many
hours learning, memorizing, practicing
and meeting people so that I could relate
to others more, be a better person and
friend and become a better advocate for
agriculture, Ag-Ed and FFA.
You know what? I did become a better
person. Even though all that work
seemed to be for nothing, I was able to
learn more about others and push myself
beyond what I was used to. I was able to
remember names and love people more.
I was able to do more. I was reminded in
a big way that all effort – even failed effort
produces muscle. That’s another good
word…E-F-F-O-R-T…effort produces
muscle. And it is that effort that helps
us do more, and it is the challenge that
builds muscle.
The challenge of doing more is real.
The value of doing more is real. Remember
those thoughts that we have all had?
I am too young, inadequate, stupid or
useless to make a real difference…to do
more. Still feeling inadequate? Try telling
Zach Hunter that he is too young or that
because he has an anxiety disorder he
will never do anything to complete his
dream of ending modern day slavery. At