Realize Your Potential

Tomorrow morning I'll be getting up, going on a bike ride, then heading to the Woodlands with my girls to watch the athletes competing in Ironman Texas.  These athletes will be swimming for 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles, then finishing off with a little foot race also known as a marathon.  There will be professional athletes there who travel the world competing in these Ironman events, with their championship held each year in Kona, Hawaii.  But those aren't the ones I'm most excited about seeing.


The athletes I'm going to see are the people who are just like you and me.  The moms and dads, school teachers, construction workers, retired people, Walmart managers, and the (fill in the blank with your profession).  These are the people who at some point made a radical decision - that dedicating a year of their life and up to 40 hours a week of their time to train to reach their fullest potential- sounded like a good idea.


I plan on being at the course from about 10:00 am until about 3:00 pm tomorrow, but I really wish that I could be at the finish line at midnight tomorrow.  That's because there is a 17 hour cutoff to finish the race, and only those who cross before midnight get to call themselves Ironmen.  As midnight approaches there will be people who are finishing with tremendous heart.  This is the time you will see the people who were perhaps most challenged by the race.  The blind, the amputees, the Jon Blaises, the retired nuns.  How many times in 17 hours, over 140.6 miles do you have a thought about quitting?  I would think a few times, but at midnight we will see those who fought their emotions, their fatigue, their bodies, and their mental states and continued to move forward.


Throughout the evening and night people will be crossing a finish line and becoming Ironmen in a quest to reach their potential.


I want that kind of determination in all areas of my life.  A determination to reach my potential no matter what obstacles are before me.  And it doesn't take an Ironman race to do it.  But it does take the same focus, dedication, determination, and effort that these athletes apply to their training and race day.  A friend of mine posted a quote on Facebook last week that I've been meditating on since I read it.


"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important thing I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life, because almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.
You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."      - Steve Jobs


One thought I've been having as I think on these words is that time is running out.  Our time on this earth is finite, and we only have a limited amount of days to leave our mark, to reach our potential.  I don't expect to be remembered by too many people after I'm gone.  I'm not looking to cure cancer, end all war, feed the world, or save the whales.  But I do want to be the best father I can, and leave a legacy with my daughters with the lessons I teach them and the example I set for them.  


Another thing I read from this quote is that I can't allow other's expectations, my pride, or the fear of embarrassment to keep me from trying to reach my potential.  Those of us who grew up on the Gulf Coast have probably all spent some time crabbing.  If you've been fortunate to ever catch a bucket full of crabs, you might have seen that the ones on top of the pile will try to reach the lip of the bucket and try to pull themselves out.  Unfortunately for them, the ones underneath them reach up and grab the ones that are trying to make their escape and pull them back down.  Many people are just like those crab in the bucket.  Once they see one of their friends starting to work towards their potential, they become afraid that they are going to be left behind.  So they try to verbally pull you back down into the bucket.  They might use embarrassment tactics, or try to transfer their expectations onto you.  You just have to remind yourself that there is nothing wrong with trying to be extraordinary.  It's okay for you to go after your dreams, and be the best person you can be.


There's more I'd like to say, but I have to get to bed and get some rest for my ride in the morning, so I'll save it for another time.  So let me leave you with this video of Jon Blaise, a 2005 finisher of the Kona Ironman who had Lou Gehrig's disease.

Youtube used to have the entire race coverage from the 2005 Kona Ironman, but it's not there anymore.  The series did a fantastic job of documenting Jon Blais' day.  If anyone ever comes across the footage on DVD, I'd appreciate a chance to get a copy.