I watched TV coverage of the the Ironman 2010 this past weekend. Many of the participating triathletes had incredible stories to tell, and tears streamed down my face as I watched many of them cross the finish line. One was a self-described junkie that survived an attempted suicide in prison. Another man in his seventies was there with his daughter as his supporting wing-man . Every year, this incredible triathlon brings together individuals from different parts of the world for different reasons. One common denominator, however, is that they all share a willingness to endure extreme physical punishment that includes a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike leg, and a 26-mile run to the finish line.
I fell in love with the people who had survived cancer, car accidents and previous race defeats. The stand-out part for me was the pure resiliency of the human spirit. We all possess a certain mental toughness we don't even know we have. Most of us, living comfortably, don't ever tap into it. Should you, however, ever want or need to move beyond status quo, know that this toughness exists. Once the body fully breaks down, the mind must take over, and the situation becomes mind over muscle. Survival depends on it. What does one do at the breaking point? Crumble and quit, or search deep within and tap into the survivalist? The bottom line is you have to want to do it. The reasons why and the particulars as to how are personal and individual.
Most of us are not in touch with our inner-selves. We tend to identify ourselves through our every day roles as wife, mother, employee, friend, volunteer, etc. Honestly, these roles are not who we are. The truth lies somewhere within the question "who were we born to be?" Unfortunately, most of us do not pursue that personal truth as we have become so complacent playing everyday roles. Ego can also hinder such pursuits, as ego will always try to attach itself to what is desired most by others.
Interestingly, many of the Ironman participants were operating far beyond ego. It didn't matter if they had to walk to the finish line, if they were disqualified due to finish time restrictions, or if they had to submit to quitting without finishing due to injury. Every racer was taking themselves as far as they could humanly go despite unknown outcomes. Beyond the pure discipline of training and achievement of incredible fitness for such an event, lies an incredible opportunity to more about one's self. Do you know what extraordinary efforts you are capable of? As the saying goes, without risk, there is no reward.
When we always play it safe, and when we don't seek out new challenges or strive for personal growth, we deny ourselves opportunity to better know who we are. We are capable of so much more than we realize. If we really understood this, wouldn't we all try to do more or work a little harder? Although we may be deeply attached to outcomes, outcomes do not define us. Instead, what we learn in the journey does.
