Nothing lasts forever
17th of November 2013, Austin, Texas. A certain German twenty six year old has just a record, making it eight consecutive wins for the season and grabbing his 12th win. Just one shy of the record at the time, which was 13 wins in a single season.
Sebastien Vettel had already secured the title two races prior to the united states grand prix, after a hotly contested championship that was settled after 16 races. He went on to close the season with 397 points out of a possible 475, finishing with a gap of 155 to the closest challenger.
Vettel’s Radio Message
However despite the achievements that were made on this race, Vettel’s message on his radio to the team after making the checkered flag would be even more memorable to most.
I’m speechless, We have to remember these days. There’s no guarantee that they will last forever. Enjoy them as long as they last. I love you guys
To put this in context, at that point Vettel had won just added won his fourth championship, all of them in a row. He would go on to break the record of most consecutive wins in the final race of the season in Brazil, making it nine in a single season. All in all, it was a record breaking season.
Change is inevitable
However in the seven seasons since it hasn’t really gone his way, and those who are superstitious might say he jinxed it. But he didn’t jinx it, he somehow knew that a change was going to come about and he chose to have the attitude of welcoming it rather than fighting it.
Don’t get me wrong, accepting change is not to give up trying but rather to make the conscious choice that denying the existence of this change, whatever it might be or wherever it might happen, is not an option.
Treasure the good moments
With the surety that nothing lasts forever, it is prudent to live in the moment and treasure the good moments, enjoying and learning from them as well as learning from the bad ones and taking from them the insights that they often offer.
The first victory for an upcoming athlete, a book contract with a publishing house, the moment that the business breaks even and many other gains, big and small, are the moments to savor and ultimately enjoy. But do so with the attitude that it will eventually fade away and a new day must arise and with it new opportunities. With the new dawn, you must eventually forge on ahead and create new paths or fade into oblivion while holding on to the past.
Final takeaway
Ultimately all things come to an end. This statement might give the notion that in the end nothing matters and as such there is no point in even trying. We should not carry about in abandon but rather live with the acceptance that all things, good or bad, must come to an end.
