The Spartans had a saying – “With it or on it” – that they used to remind themselves to finish what they started without giving up or holding back. This saying is something for us to remember as we consider what this Maxim means. Sometimes it is tempting for us to hold back when we are trying to accomplish something because we feel we must ‘save’ our energy. But when we want to do something, it is like a race and we need to put our full effort into it. We need to push ourselves past our comfort zone and into something new.

This is not easy to remember sometimes in our society which emphasizes instant gratification because races can be of all different lengths. No matter how long the race though, we still need to run it to win. The motto of the Modern Olympic games – “Citius, Fortius, Altius” (Faster, Stronger, Higher) is a wonderful example of this principle. We need to push ourselves to finish the things we start with it in mind.