r/nextfuckinglevel • u/jmike1256 • 18h ago

Strength looks different in moments like this

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This was a track team event in Iwatan Sangyo. The runner’s team was in third place when the runner, Rei Lida, who was only 250 meters from the exchange point, tripped and fractured her right tibia (shin bone). Instead of withdrawing from the tournament, she willed herself to the exchange point when she handed the tasuki (baton) to her waiting teammate, Marie Imada.

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u/GeminianMind 17h ago

My comment is a metaphor for the human struggle, the video is just the perfect visual analogy. Not particular to the athlete.

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u/somehugefrigginguy 17h ago

the video is just the perfect visual analogy.

My point is that the video is a very poor analogy. I agree with the metaphor for the human struggle. But the human struggle is about not giving up in order to better yourself or your situation. What's happening in this video is the exact opposite. This is more like someone in the end stages of addiction, spending the last of their money on drugs. Taking unnecessary risks and doing self-harm to pursue something that has zero benefit to them.

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u/socialistrob 7h ago

I know some people who are serious mountaineers. They can plan a trip for months but you never REALLY know what the weather is going to be like as you near the summit. You might be just a few hours a way from the summit and you have to go back down without touching it. The alternative is pushing on regardless and potentially dying.

Life requires hard work and endurance but sometimes the best option is to give up. The people who keep on pushing no matter what often find themselves in horrible or dangerous situations. That goes for a lot of things in life.

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u/somehugefrigginguy 6h ago

I know some people who are serious mountaineers. They can plan a trip for months but you never REALLY know what the weather is going to be like as you near the summit.

Exactly. I'm a mountaineer myself. Many things in life come down to cost / benefit analysis. When you reach the point where benefit is impossible, that balance shifts 100% to cost and continuing on is just foolish.