Triathlon is a self introspective sport...meaning, I really love learning more about how I am wired. We all tend to compare the worst things about ourselves to the best things that we can outwardly see in others, which is obviously a completely unfair comparison. So, I live in fear that I (not others) will learn something about myself that I don't want to know...maybe that I am a quitter, or that I am not focused, or that I can't stay the course, etc. But, what I LOVE about triathlon is that I can constantly confront those dark places that I am learning exist inside of me.
Coach John Wooden, a great coach and one hell of a leader of men, said that his father taught him no to compare himself to others, but to compare himself to what he thought he could be. What is awesome is that, the closer I get to this standard, the more I realize that I am holding myself to a standard that far exceeds what society holds up for us. We, as triathletes, are what is great about human kind. We struggle internally because we constantly compare our worst to other's best...and that creates dissonance inside of our type A personalities. Others don't feel this 'tug' against their humanity...they just coast through life.
So, with all of that rambling...my fear is that others would see me as I see me...so far short of where I think I could be!
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Coach John Wooden, a great coach and one hell of a leader of men, said that his father taught him no to compare himself to others, but to compare himself to what he thought he could be. What is awesome is that, the closer I get to this standard, the more I realize that I am holding myself to a standard that far exceeds what society holds up for us. We, as triathletes, are what is great about human kind. We struggle internally because we constantly compare our worst to other's best...and that creates dissonance inside of our type A personalities. Others don't feel this 'tug' against their humanity...they just coast through life.
So, with all of that rambling...my fear is that others would see me as I see me...so far short of where I think I could be!