ART SUPPLIES

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

TIME TO BLOSSOM

And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. So we blossom. Sometimes reluctantly. Sometimes fearfully. But rarely willingly. To blossom means to change. To grow. To stretch. A rebirth of who we are. Who we were.

In the past six months I've lost at least 20 pounds, learned to swim. I've ran farther in one day than I have in all the years combined since I was in school. Was it a painful journey? Physically, yes. Spiritually? You better believe I do a lot of soul searching and praying while swimming in the ocean or flying down a hill at 40 mph on a bicycle.

There is a new person blossoming within me since I started training for triathlons. A stronger, more disciplined version of me. He hasn't blossomed yet, but he is loosening the petals that hold him in. It's a hard thing to let go of the old self. What if I don't like who I become? Maybe I like the couch potato version of me? This new me may want to swim, bike and run all the time. The new version of me may want to eat healthy — all the time — can I handle that?

One day, I'll let go of this old self. The person who grumbles at 5:30 in the morning when it's time to get up and swim. The person who slows down when the legs and lungs starts burning when I'm pushing it. One day I'll take the risk and let go, and through it all, I'll find myself. And then, many days later, I will look back and think, "the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

1 comment:

Bruce Stewart (施樸樂) (ブルース・スチュワート) said...

It is good just feeling good. Sometimes the tiredness from training gets us, but generally we live more healthy lives, and so we operate more efficiently. Our lives become more balanced, in that we aren't just sitting by our computers all day long, or just thinking that we are too old to do something physically demanding.

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