LIVING TO THE FULL
I have been reflecting on what it means to live to the full.
As triathletes we push boundaries in attempting to balance family, work and training. Manipulating ‘normal life’ to see just what we are capable of both mentally and physically. Only now after a break over Easter, enjoying some much-needed relaxation time, have I been able to reflect on what it means exactly to live life to the full.
We are here for only a short time so don’t we owe it to ourselves to make the most of every second?
I am blessed, on a daily basis, to be surrounded by people who tease the most out of their lot in life. Triathlon is a perfect vehicle to break self-imposed perceptions and beliefs. Attempting your first triathlon, aiming for a personal best or lining up at the start of an Ironman are tangible challenges where the reward is far greater than the medal or finishing time.
Many who cross our paths say it can’t be done, shouldn’t be tried or won’t work. They are often the ones who will die a death of regret. Do we not, when our time is up, want to be remembered for squeezing every ounce of blood, sweat and tears out of life? It is only when we are challenged and taken out of our comfort zone that we truly find out what we are capable of. And it is, in those times, when we truly live life to the full. Along the way there are setbacks, failures and successes but we are alive.
Below is a great quote by Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States which captures this perfectly;
It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again.
Who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement.
And who at the worst if he fails, at least fails while DARING GREATLY so that in his place shall never be with those timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.
I read this story recently about a UK teenager documenting his losing battle against cancer on social media. https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/22864741/teen-cancer-patient-tweets-final-thumbs-up/?cmp=fb
“I’m not afraid of dying, I’m afraid of not cramming as much into my life as I should have done,” he told the Birmingham Mail.
Let’s get busy living.
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