Pay the price

Maybe life should be more like harness racing.

If a driver impedes the progress of another driver during the race, he is moved beneath the driver he offended in the final standings.

I like that.

I like the idea that someone doesn’t benefit by getting in the way of someone else’s progress.

The price for ruining that person’s dream of winning is not only losing the race, but taking a place beneath the person you offended.

Wouldn’t corporate America look different if we all played by those rules? Wouldn’t Main Street look different if we all played by those rules? Wouldn’t the ball park look different if we all played by those rules? Wouldn’t — oh, you get the idea.

What if the price we had to pay for slowing down someone else’s progress was to switch places with them — to live the life our actions forced them to live?

Let’s also remember.

During races, horses will sometimes “break;” basically the horse gets off stride and starts running at the wrong gait. When that happens, the rules say a driver must slow the horse and pull him out of traffic until the horse gets its act together. Once the horse returns to its normal gait, it can begin racing again — and even win the race.

We all get off track.

We all get off stride at times, but that doesn’t mean we’re out of the race for good. It just means we need to slow down, get our act together before we jump back in the race.

Play fair this week. Run a good race.