Thankfulness

It's Thanksgiving!

Most of us have so much to be grateful for. Just to sum up a few, we get to live in this great land. We have jobs available. We get to live in the Northwest where the climate is mostly friendly to outdoor adventures of a large variety of things to do from snow to salt water. Hopefully your list of things you are grateful for is extensive. If you can't rattle off at least 10 things right now in your head, you should stop, grab pen and paper, and count your blessings.

One thing I am certainly grateful for is you and RTB and it's associates. Because of you all, I get to swim, bike, run, travel, and heckle people while on the race course. And without you, I likely would be sleeping in most every day. But no, people show up at my door and make me go out and do stuff that is good for me even when I do not feel like it.

When is the last time you were totally grateful for your health and the things it does allow you to do?

Here is a list of points for you to consider

• You can exhaust yourself on a Sunday, refuel with pizza out of a box washed down with a coke and still be able to go to work the next day. Your body is smart enough to convert that junk (eating the box may be healthier than the stuff in it) into usable fuel.
• You can and probably did injure yourself at some time, and your body heals itself with no help or instruction. I have been bleeding before and have been happy to remind myself the healing process has already began. 
• You can wear out the grips on your handlebars but not your hands!
• Your body can and will adapt itself to the pressures applied to it provided it is done in a reasonable manner. A 60 year old runner replied with that statement after I asked him if he had any problems with his knees as a result of running over 150 marathons, and was working on a sub 3 hour run. 
• As triathletes, we get to play with some pretty cool toys! Bikes, technology, science, and wrist based GPS devices that send us alerts about upcoming Strava segments!

All of it could be taken away in one second

And for some of us, it already has. One slip, fall or crash and poof! Life as you know it is over. 

And sometimes what appears bad or difficult is actually good for you. An example of that is one year I broke my right hand and almost lost it due to a staff infection. Not good being a guy who makes his living with his hands. Within 3 months I was almost out of business and out of health. If that had not happened, I probably would not have signed up for an Ironman, which changed the course of my life.

Or, "I know you wanted to retire and spend your time and money on yourself. But, I really want to adopt an abandoned child from a foreign country" NO. It happens anyway. Best thing that ever happened.

So, be extremely grateful for what you have today!

Stop whining, moaning and complaining about what you do not have. 

The pendulum swings. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you loose. You may fight hard for small gains only to have them disappear. In the end it averages out that generally you get what you deserve based on your thoughts and actions. So, don't gloat too much when you win, and don't get too bummed out when you loose. 

Reflect with joy on all past events and see the blessings in them!