Facing your Giants

Scott Schwab:

Life has a great way of giving you experiences that really are daunting. Today was that day for me. Personally I was excited to do the Olympic Triathlon, knowing that it would be a good challenge and something that would push me further and really establish my limits. It was great to have my buddy Sam Woods as a motivation for the race. Although my training regiment was not what I wanted, rarely life presents you with a perfect situation. Subconsciously, I thought that at least I would improve on my time from when I ran it to start the 8 week challenge.

Today was a very humbling day, a day that I was able to see who I am, and still have the opportunity to do something I enjoy. Facing your Giants, will always give you a chance to grow and learn. Too often when difficulty comes, we get into a mind frame that we should not put ourselves through pain, difficulty, and possibly embarrassment. How will we ever grow if we do not push our limits? Facing your Giants, whatever they may be, is pushing your limits. This may be with food, it may be with work and a job, or it could be exercise. Life is to short to just do everything within the limits that our minds set. Be surprised, have the experience that you can only have when you obtain a goal, desire, or a dream. Do not let yourself have the temporary and false satisfaction that one gets from letting up or quiting. Push through your inhibition and create a new you. That is what it is going to take if we want to have success in the areas that we face Giants. You may be good going in, but when you finish you will be better, more seasoned, and be able to face life from the best perspective that you ever have.

I did not win the race, in fact I was one of the last ones to cross the finish line. I did not beat Sam and in fact he beat me by 32 minutes. To make matters more interesting, the award show was interrupted by yours truly coming in when most everyone was done. It also didn't help that I tripped on the timing mats in front of everyone. Very humiliating, and I will have to do some further investigation tomorrow to see if I actually pulled my hamstring or if it was all the blood rushing to my face for the red effect. However hard, embarrassing, even uncomfortable; I left better, I accomplished something that I hadn't done before and I finished without quiting. Next time I will have to train harder and push further, but the most important thing is that there will be a next time and there is a great opportunity for improvement and development.