Having just celebrated Canada Day, had me thinking that it is kind of ironic that given the shut down, we have more time and yet I don’t think we have had a day off work since March! I was thinking about what we would have been doing today, under normal circumstances. We would have been in Muskoka working with Trisport Canada getting organized for Subaru Ironman 70.3 Muskoka. We would have been getting our athletes ready to race either in Muskoka or Ironman 70.3 Muncie or Ironman Lake Placid and I would have been studying for commentary for the Olympics. My events were scheduled for the first week of August so that would have been a balancing act with Subaru iron Girl Canada and then it would have been off to Subaru Ironman Mont Tremblant and Subaru Ironman Canada! Whew!
All of that said, our future is not set. We “would have” been doing those things but we are doing other things. We don’t live in the past. We embrace the NOW and right now I am avoiding organizing my closet!
I am reading a great book by Neil Pasricha You Are Awesome. A few things are worth repeating:
“Do it for free for ten years” – this is advice for building a business but I suggest that it goes way beyond “business and entrepreneurial endeavours”. We all do it. Here is what I mean. When I reflect on my professional triathlon career, I trained really hard for many years before I actually made a living. Olympians train countless hours just for one shot at making the team. Right now, many of you are training without a concrete race in the future, but you do it because it will make you better for 2021. So I guess “free” can be re-written as “without immediate reward”. Parents teach their children for years and when they graduate and find their passion, that is finally the parent’s reward. We are all working for free – we just don’t know it.
“Moving through failure is the real success”. For me, it took a “walk-a-thon” during the marathon at the 1998 Ironman World Championships and visit to the medical tent post race, for me to invest time into learning about my sodium needs and to realize that I would not truly feel fulfilled until I gave myself 100% to my triathlon career. It was my worst race ever at that 1998 World Championship. I didn’t make a lick of money but I chose to resign from teaching and pursue sport full-time. By moving through that “apparent” failure, I found success. 1999 was a breakthrough year and then from 2000-2007, I won at least 1 Ironman every year for 8 consecutive years.
Better yet is this quote from the great baseball player Mickey Mantle – “During my 18 years I came to bat almost 10,000 times. I struck out about 1,700 times and walked maybe 1,800 times. You figure a ballplayer will average about 500 at bats a season. That means I played seven years without hitting the ball.”
I love that quote!
I encourage you to continue to count your blessings and find at least 1 win in your day. I had a funny “win” this morning. I was walking Hadley (Fenway was still asleep) at around 5:15 am. It wasn’t dark but it wasn’t bright and I looked at the sky and saw the moon. I smiled. It was such a simple pleasure. I haven’t seen the moon in ages because I am usually tucked away before dark in the evening and the sunrise has been so early. But now that we are on the other side of the longest day of the year, it is a wee bit darker when I am walking and there it was – the moon – a sign that life is moving on – that nature is in charge – that we are one day closer to a vaccine and getting back to what we love (as we create new wonderful loves along the way!)
Stay healthy and happy! Lisa
