A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

Take, for example, the picture of the “Finisher's Medal” from last weekend's Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. The most stunning medal I have ever seen, this beauty certainly represents a thousand words. A thousand footsteps. And a thousand days of training (yes, Virginia – my training was, in fact, three years in the making.)

I'm not certain where this legendary quote originated – some say a writer coined the phrase in December 1921 to promote the use of photography in ads. He suggested that when it came to beautiful cable cars: "One look is worth a thousand thoughts." Some say it has roots in a Chinese proverb that, when translated, means: "A picture is worth ten thousand words." Other historians say it was French general Napoleon Bonaparte who uttered the phrase: "A good sketch is better than a long speech."  (If only politicians today would heed the suggestion!)

Whatever the case – and whomever the author – it is a statement as true as a Marathon is long.

For me, this picture is worth not only a thousand words. It's worth a thousand thoughts. A thousand hopes. And at one time, it probably represented a thousand fears.

Now, it represents a thousand tiny accomplishments. And a thousand more possibilities that are still to come. And that makes me smile... yes, you guessed it... a thousand times over.