Gabe was a long distance runner. He defined himself based on how fast he ran. The friends who surrounded him liked his fame as did the pretty girls that wanted to be in his presence. He had charisma and people were drawn to him like a magnet.
One day while running, he felt something pop in his leg, but like a seasoned athlete he continued. Limping off the field, he realized something was very wrong. The pain was increasing by the minute and he was nauseated. He reached the parking lot and tried to open the car door but lost his balance. No longer able to bear weight on his leg, he collapsed in the parking lot. Luckily, his teammate had followed him "just in case."
Unfortunately for Gabe, his injury was career ending. The pretty girls brought him chicken soup every day until the final diagnosis that told Gabe he could never run again. In fact, he would be lucky if his limp disappeared. His friends and teammates surrounded him with love....for a minute. Then one by one they disappeared. He had no family and he felt orphaned by the circumstances of his life.
And then it happened. Gabe had a dream. Everybody finally knew what he had felt in his heart his whole life. Defining his life by his ability to run and his success at doing it....had destroyed him. He was a fraud. He was left alone with only his kind giving heart...and no one bothered to notice.
