You’ve prepared. You’re ready.

As soon as the starter signals, you’re off and running.

But with the first step, you stumble. A win is now impossible.

The question at present is, “What do you do, knowing you can’t win?”

The answer is not, “Lay down and quit.”

The goal has shifted. Where the initial goal was winning, the new goal is getting back up. Or running a good rest-of-the-race. Or just finishing. Or preparing for a different race.

Life happens and our goals necessarily change.

The only thing to do is to decide what to do next.

And then to do it.