Happens for a reason…

Ya know how when life is tough or shit hits the fan, people love to say some version of – everything happens for a reason. 

Maybe. Maybe not.

I think a better thing to say, think, and feel is something like…. maybe you can find some meaning in this. Because as humans we do need to find meaning in things, especially the bad things. Whether it’s in an injury or sickness, having problems at work, marriage/family challenges, kid problems, etc. Without getting too philosophical or religious, I think that sometimes there really is no good reason for some stuff. It just happens. There’s no deeper divine purpose. It just is.

To relate this to training… Sometimes in the pool I feel awesome & have the best mojo ever. Today I swam and hated every minute of it. I’m glad I went but I didn’t make any progress. But then tonight my 7 year old son wanted to run around the block with me just as it got dark. He’s little and running is simple, easy, and fluid to him. It’s like he was born to run. So I tried to keep up with him for a mile around the neighborhood. Did my icky swim today lead to a great run with my kid and a way to connect with him in a better way? I don’t know. Maybe.

We are in the beginning of spring it reminds me that the tri clock is ticking away. The first one for the season will be here before I know it. I’m already looking ahead long term to consider how I am going to set a goal for a Half Ironman one day. Between now & then (whenever that is) I can assume there’s gonna’ be a lot of “shit hit the fan” days. I saw this quote below on Instagram – Set a goal so big that you can’t achieve it until you grow into the person who can. That’s deep. Growth is usually painful, so baked in this quote implies future growing pains and more shit hitting the fan. I still have no idea how triathlon became part of my life. It’s really strange to me. I can’t pinpoint a moment when this happened. But, I know that I’ve found meaning around this journey – discipline, goal setting, time management, focus, setting a good example for my kids. It’s given me a way to deal with stress that’s much better than other avenues. Maybe that’s the “meaning” for me.