BELIEVE IN YOURSELF--ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE
My journey for an Ironman has come to an end! Or has it just begun? I finished my Ironman race this past Sunday in 13 hours and 10 seconds. It was a great experience and believe it or not was actually fun in a weird way. I mean, I hurt and felt terrible at times, but I had fun. Weird right?
I would love to tell you all about the race and the different experiences I had out on the course but that would be entirely too long for a blog. I will have a link to additional information about the race if you are interested and a detailed story coming soon! Otherwise, I will try to tell you what this entire journey has taught me, and I hope to give you something to think about and take away.
It taught me to believe in myself. If you believe in yourself, then anything is possible. Before you can accomplish anything, you have to believe you can do it. It does not matter what other people believe or think. If you live by what other people think, you may never accomplish anything. You will never reach your greatest potential. Believing in yourself gives you the freedom to be whomever you want to be. It allows you to reach your full potential with no restraints, no contingencies.
Sure, I was scared, but I knew one thing for sure. I could never do this if I did not go and try. I was worried that after all the training and preparation that I would somehow fail. Each event taught me something different.
The Swim; This is the beginning. When you start something, you are not sure what the outcome might be. You think “what if, but”; and that holds a lot of people back. Just like any goal, you have to jump in feet first and start. No one is there to push you in. It is your decision alone.
The Bike; This is the middle. To complete the bike you are dependent on the bike itself to help you. Certainly, you must pedal the bike to get it to move, but the bikes wheels must have proper inflation and the different gears must work properly for the obstacles along the way. Just like in life. You cannot go it alone. You need other things, people, to get you through certain obstacles and to reach specific goals. We need to know how to treat them and get them in the right gear to help us.
The Run; This is the end. Surely, when you start out on a journey or goal there is always an end in sight. The difficulty is sometimes when we can see the end we begin to relax, lose focus, and it becomes difficult. This is where most people quit and give up. This is when you need your mental fortitude and the belief you can do it, and you will finish. This is when you pay attention and listen to everyone around you giving you motivation to finish. You got this!
In summary, get started and jump in feet first, trust others and lean on them from time to time, and most importantly believe in yourself. If you do these three things for any task in your life ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!