Finding The Joy In The Climb
Gratitude in growth, one day at a time.
When I work with athletes, we talk a lot about embracing the climb.
Our sport is incredibly hard, and it is a long journey to one’s prime. I remind them that the female gold medalist April Ross reached her ultimate goal at the age of 39, and that 3 of the 4 male USA Olympians were over 40.
It can be so easy to be frustrated when one isn’t playing well. Sometimes we get caught up in comparing ourselves to those around us.
We never know when we’ll hit our peak, nor do we know how long we’ll stay there. But the one thing we control is making the most of our practices and games.
We try to find the joy in those steps, and we try to continue to push the boundaries of how high our peak may be.
I had about a three year span where I went into most events with a legitimate shot to win it. But before that was seven years of losses.
Those losses didn’t discourage me - to me those were simply measuring sticks. I could see I was getting better little by little.
If I only found the joy at the peak, I would have been miserable most of my career - I feel I would have missed out on so much. But I just kept trying to give my best physical and mental effort, always fine-tuning things, always trying to learn from my mistakes and losses.
I think life can be very similar. I feel like so many of us hold ourselves to unrealistic standards. I feel like a lot of people are “on call” or actively doing things from shortly after they get up until shortly after they go to bed.
Yet, there’s always more to do. Gone are the days where a father would raise an eyebrow and ask “who’s calling at this hour” at 7pm when someone would call the landline.
So the next time you’re self-conscious about all the things you’re not getting done, take a step back and ask yourself about all the things you are doing.
And don’t be afraid to take a break - sometimes we climb more efficiently when we take some time to rest and recharge.
I had been on the go from the moment I woke up at 7:15 last Friday until about 11pm. “Oh crap” I thought “I still have to write a piece”.
And then, in a step in what I hope is the right direction, I told myself weekends would be weekends, and I’d pick up where I left off on Monday.
I hope you enjoy your climb, I hope you recognize your progress even if you’re not exactly where you want to be, and I hope you don’t forget to take care of yourself along the way.
Be good to yourself, be good to others, I’ll see you tomorrow :)