The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong - Proverb for January 2

January 2 of "The Worlds Great Proverbs" desk calendar brings me to this proverb, "The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong".  This is a familiar proverb to me but I haven't given it much thought before. After reading this proverb I feel there is something missing.  The statement seems true enough but also seem to be incomplete.  If the race is not to the swift then who does the race go to?  And if the battle is not won by the strong then who is it won by?  What is the point here?

At first glance the basic message seems to be that there are many other factors to victory and success than the most obvious.

The source of this proverb is from Ecclesiastes 9:11 and a look at this verse shows this proverb in context.

"I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all." NIV

The key to understanding this proverb is in the conclusion that "time and chance happen to them all".  When I originally read this proverb I assumed the lesson to take was that I should not focus on being the swiftest or the strongest but find other advantages to bring to the table.  While this is still a valid lesson I think the point this proverb is really making is that doing our very best doesn't guarantee victory or success.  In conclusion I think we should put our best effort into everything we do but should not expect that this will guarantee us a win. A successful person is not always the most qualified but may simply be the one who is in the right place at the right time.