COMMIT-- the road to LIVING FULLY.

I love committing to a goal.  I would actually venture to say I don't know much of how to live easily without one.  To me, goals and commitment go hand in hand.  I personally am never going to set a true goal without committing 100%, completely, without question to my goals.  That doesn't mean I will always achieve them.  BUT, I will always do EVERY SINGLE LITTLE THING in my power to really get there, or as close as I can.  So, for any dreams that haven't come true, there is that discrepancy of what I wanted, and what actually happened.  But I am generally OK with that, as long as I know that I DID MY. EVERY.THING.

Sometimes, that makes setting goals unsettling or even a bit frightening.  I watched the Ironman on TV over the weekend- from this year's Hawaii race/World Championship, and it really caught me in my gut again.  2013 was when I did my Ironman, and I almost found myself wanting to go close to that place where I may want to do another one soon again.  It made me remember the STEP it took to COMMITTING myself to train for 2003 Ironman Lake Placid.  Ohhhh yes, I was SCARED SILLY.  I honestly was not entirely sure I could do it.  But I knew I would find out and come as close as I possibly physically could.  When I pushed the register button, I was committed heart and soul, every little nook and cranny of my body, every CELL was alerted and ON for training for this thing.  For a year:)  (poor Ryan, that was a long year!)

That is one of the best things about races as far as I'm concerned.  Signing up, pressing register.....
SAYING YES.  COMMITTING FULLY.
So many of us are scared to do this.  Not just to races, but in all dimensions of our life, including fitness of course.  We are scared to try something that is new to us.  We are scared to commit to a class because we're not sure if we'll really love it or maybe just like it.  We are scared to sign up for a race, something else (or something better!) may come up.  We are scared for so many different reasons.  We are scared maybe we cannot.  We are scared to have big hopes for ourselves and then to disappoint ourselves.  And I am in this group also.

What I have found over my years of COMMITTING to big things for myself... is that:
*I have never regretted setting a high goal- sometimes immensely hopeful goal, I have never regretted pushing the register button, and never regretted trying something NEW. 
*I haven't always loved these things, the processes, the work, the heartache, but again... never regret.
*I am so thankful that I have explored my boundaries, even when they've broken my heart (in both sports and life in general). 
*I wouldn't be who I am today without risking, without stepping up and out, without going into business on my own, attempting things that some labelled "impossible." 

And, I guess my message in this post is simple.  I encourage you all, just as I continue to need to encourage myself, to take big steps.  To ask big things of ourselves.  We ask our kids to try things, and we also need to be taking those risks, placing ourselves in situations of uncertainty, finding our lines and limits.  Because all of those things to me, mean living FULLY.  I, for one, don't want to waste a day or a dream:)