No Excuses
Every time I travel I have ah ha moments and get clarity. Yes, despite my Bachelor of Arts in English I am using every - an exaggerated definitive. But for me it's not an overuse or misuse. Getting out of my rhythms allow my mind to slow down and see things differently. As I am experiencing new things and am in new places my laser vision is turned off. All the untouched that have been sitting on my peripheral are now in view. The last five days have been no different. Being in Lake Placid, staying at the Olympic Training Center and watching Olympians has fueled my recent ah ha moments and clarity.
Olympians are competitors - no ah ha there. Some of them have been training and competing in the same sport since they were six or seven years old. Others have competed in other sports and when those careers ended they switched over. They cannot stop training and competing. It is not an identity issue. This lifestyle is their passion. With the worst of training days and the stinging of defeats in competitions or not making a team they never give up -- they feel alive in the worst of the worst because they are doing what they love, they are chasing their dream. Once they have reached the top - a gold medal or making the team - they still are not satisfied. They are driven by humility knowing that there is someone else out there working just as hard and at times even harder. They know that the day the come to a place where they think they know it all, work hard enough or don't need to learn anymore then their dream is over. The are not at the top of their game anymore. Their passion gets put on a shelf. They wake up and are not feeling alive anymore - even on the best days.
They have no excuses.
I am tired of excuses. If you want it bad enough you will find a way to make it happen - not an excuse of why it cannot. I don't want to have excuses anymore. I don't want to be around excuses either. But I cannot expect others to do what I am not willing to do and/or am not already living out. If I want to live out my passion then I have to be willing to do whatever to live it out. Not compromising my faith, morals or relationships, but willing to to lose the excuses.
I don't want my passion to be put on a shelf.
Olympians are competitors - no ah ha there. Some of them have been training and competing in the same sport since they were six or seven years old. Others have competed in other sports and when those careers ended they switched over. They cannot stop training and competing. It is not an identity issue. This lifestyle is their passion. With the worst of training days and the stinging of defeats in competitions or not making a team they never give up -- they feel alive in the worst of the worst because they are doing what they love, they are chasing their dream. Once they have reached the top - a gold medal or making the team - they still are not satisfied. They are driven by humility knowing that there is someone else out there working just as hard and at times even harder. They know that the day the come to a place where they think they know it all, work hard enough or don't need to learn anymore then their dream is over. The are not at the top of their game anymore. Their passion gets put on a shelf. They wake up and are not feeling alive anymore - even on the best days.
They have no excuses.
I am tired of excuses. If you want it bad enough you will find a way to make it happen - not an excuse of why it cannot. I don't want to have excuses anymore. I don't want to be around excuses either. But I cannot expect others to do what I am not willing to do and/or am not already living out. If I want to live out my passion then I have to be willing to do whatever to live it out. Not compromising my faith, morals or relationships, but willing to to lose the excuses.
I don't want my passion to be put on a shelf.
posted by Jeremy David at 6:33 AM
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