The end was really a new beginning

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces towards change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable."

-Helen Keller

Saint Augustine New Year's Eve. Fireworks on the Beach.

Well that didn't take long. Good thing I ended that last post title with a question mark :)

The past 10 weeks or so I feel like I've been going through a triathlon divorce and it was invigorating to break free from the ordinary and do something new. I became a crossfit junkie, chilled out, relaxed and became human. I started dreaming up other life goals like doing all the most bad ass races around the world and doing the crossfit games one day. Next on my list was learning about the Iditarod- I was just in the midst of figuring out how one trains to do a sled dog race. I decided my other new life goal was to finally get barreled which would require much more courage at dropping in on the bigger bombs (or sitting in the shore pound more....). The only reason Neil EVER gets mad at me is if I bail right as I'm about to drop in on a steep wave...

It was fun closing one door and starting to open others in my mind. I love knowing that I don't have to depend on any one thing in life to keep me happy and sane. Triathlon can be such an all consuming sport that I needed some distance to assert my independence from the sport.

To add to this evolution of thought and being, Tuesday I will be leaving my job where I have spent the first four years of my career. It wasn't an easy choice to leave with all the support and love that my company and my patients give me, but the opportunity to do a fellowship kept nagging at me. Shortly after Thanksgiving I received word that I was accepted into the fellowship program at my graduate school here in Saint Augustine. I don't quite know how intense my schedule will be during the fellowship so it was easier to keep triathlon at bay until I got my feet wet in my new job for the next year.

I love triathlon and I always will but all signs seemed to be pointing towards taking a little hiatus and letting life unfold just a little at a time for once. But as I've learned many times before, life is nothing but a series of incredible opportunities and you have two choices: sit back and watch them pass you by or grab hold and enjoy the hell out of the ride.

2011 was an incredible year. I'm still in shock of all the goodness it delivered. I wound up on the podium in St. George and fulfilled my kona dream. I raced my first elite race and earned a little cash. I completed my manual therapy certification after years of hard work and I received the manual therapy fellowship that I will begin this week. Wow, that's a whole lot of hard work coming to fruition in one years time and I'm kind of still in shock about all my good fortune.

On the very last day of the year, one more great opportunity presented itself to me very blatantly and well.... I would have been stupid to pass it up. I will write more about it when its time in the next week or so but suffice it to say, I will most definitely be racing in 2012 and finding the balance between fellowship and doing some fun training and racing is going to be a very big challenge. When I was hard pressed to make the decision to race next year, I realized I'm never one to back down from a new challenge and the excitement and joy I felt about the opportunity made it a fairly easy decision to make. I hope I'm not being naive in my attempt to take on both endeavors, but I'm a big believer in the power of a positive attitude and a peaceful mind to tackle so many great things at one time. I plan on meeting 2012 head on with abundant joy and passion. Life is much too short to do otherwise.

So its back to the blog, back to do some work with Dirk and most certainly back to the drawing board to dream up a race schedule for 2012 once I get into a groove with my new job.

I'm a big believer in the fact that experience shapes us. I had a healthy dose of life growing up and having lost a handful of good friends during my high school years, I learned very acutely to never take anything for granted; not a single special moment, an amazing place or a new opportunity. In a way, I began seeing my life in snapshots. I recognize special moments and try to hold on to them in my mind. I try to remember everything about these moments with friends, family and Neil by reliving them over and over in my mind. Remembering all the sights, smells, sounds and emotions so that someday when I am no longer able to be with that person, I can remember everything about them and the way they made me feel.

I also began to look for signs in my life. Signs that I felt my lost friends were sending me about what path to take in life and although I tend towards being a rigid person with a specific life plan in place, I've learned to ease up on the life plan in order to be open to these signs of fate. So far I've been faithful at following the signs and following my heart and doing so has lead me to some pretty amazing places.

So while I thought I had it all figured out, fate seemed to have another plan for me and, as always, I listened.

Time to rebuild the wattage cottage and hop back in the pool. I've got some work to do so that I can rock out 2012 ;)