Right now I’m jealous of you all.
You can swim and run and ride and even race.
Some of you are achieving amazing things!
But this doesn’t mean I’m not happy for you. Every time you win, or podium, or finish, or achieve any goal you have set yourself, I rejoice for all of you.
At the moment, I can’t do anything. I’m happy if I can be pain free enough to actually be able to sleep.
So, you see… it’s all relative, isn’t it. We never know what other people are going through, or experiencing, and we should never assume anything about them or what they do, or their motives for doing so.
When my children were little, I remember our paediatrician saying to me, “The greatest compliment a child can give you is to say they hate you”!
Weird eh.
The thing is, the child is so sure of your never-ending love for them, they feel completely safe that whatever they do or say, you will continue to love them till the end of time!
We seem to forget the people and the things that are the most important to us. And we tend to treat them the worst. I guess because we feel they will always be there for us, no matter what.
We forget to congratulate the people who do well, cause, well…, they always do!
We forget to console others cause, they may have had a lot of success in the past.
We forget to thank the people who are out there every week helping us, donating their time and effort, often compromising their own goals in doing so.
We are human beings. We tend to find fault and criticise before we congratulate and encourage!
We are in a sport that has multiple distances. I choose to do the longest one, others choose to do the shortest, and of course there are others in between. To call a 70.3 long course triathlon “a Half” is belittling. It is never “just” a sprint, or “just” a mini, oh and then there is “the Olympic” or is it a 5150?
Is one better than the other?
Is to do one a greater achievement than the other?
I don’t think so. I’ve done them all and they all hurt!
There can be any number of reasons why we choose one distance over another, not the least of which is that it’s what we want to do! After all, ultimately we do this for enjoyment don’t we?
When I taught final year dental students I used to assume a certain level of knowledge and ability. I quickly found that I was wrong!
It showed me you never should assume anything about anybody, unless you know all the facts!
Whatever the reason, whatever your story or circumstance, no distance nor time, nor event is more or less significant than another.
We do triathlon. We put three sports together to make one. That’s an achievement in itself. We should all stand proud in our achievements and remember that it’s all relative. It’s relative to you, your story, your purpose. And that is all that matters!
I have recently completed the Foundation Level Triathlon coaching course. One of the prevailing messages that was repeated in every aspect of the course was to always be positive, then be constructive and then be positive again.
Love
Gaz (ex triathlete)
Foundation level triathlon coach
BDSc LDS
FRACDS
