There Is Always Someone Taller Than You

On a sunny, cloudless day in the summer of 2012, I found myself sitting in one of the classically uncomfortable seats at Denver International Airport, waiting for my connecting flight to depart. At 6 feet 4 inches (or 1.96 meters), I am, by most measures, tall. I am also fairly skinny – back in 2012, while training for a series of ultramarathon races, my body fat was down to around 5%, and I weighed around 165 lbs / 75 kilograms. This means that when I encounter people who are as tall as I am, they tend to be heavier – think basketball players, rather than super tall, skinny runners.

As I was trying to make myself comfortable in my seat, I spotted a well-dressed gentleman sitting opposite me. Like me, he was skinny and tall. When the gate agent called our flight, we both leaped out of our seats – happy to get moving and out of our hard, pokey chairs. My fellow traveler, dressed meticulously in a tailored suit, bent down and grabbed his suitcase – which was the exact moment I realized that he was a full head taller than I.

I must have looked at him in utter disbelief – see, when I encounter people who are noticeably taller than me, they tend to be broad-shouldered giants, not skinny stick figures like myself. Upon seeing my facial expression (eyes widened, mouth slightly open – a mixture of awe and shock), he looked down at me and said, with a perfect deadpan pitch in his voice:

“There is always someone taller than you.”

And with that, he turned around, walked off, and boarded the flight.

For a split second, the earth stood still for me, the (nonexistent) clouds parted, and a divine message manifested itself: for pretty much anyone, everywhere, there is always someone taller, smarter, faster, better than you…

Stay humble. Stay hungry.