What is Your Passion?

A friend of mine e-mailed me with Question of the Day in the subject line, and then in the body it asked, What is your passion? I thought this was interesting because he knows what I'm about and he knows darn well that it's triathlon. So, I gave him some smart a** answer that had nothing to do with triathlon. He got back to me, perhaps understanding why I gave him a smart a** answer and replied, Well, is it triathlon, or always wanting to be better? I need your input. It was evident that he was wrestling with a philosophical issue about himself and needed me to get off my smart a** and answer the question. After sending him my more thoughtful answer, I thought it might make a solid blog post. A little background, which you will likely figure out is that he is a body builder...and a freakin' awesome one at that.

Well, is it triathlon, or always wanting to be better?

That's a good question, and I believe they are not mutually exclive, but rather interconnected.
I've been involved in endurance sports since middle school, and arguably earlier just by way of lifestyle. Purhaps I could describe it better as having a real affinity for athletic movement since I was quite young. Therefore, movement forward really is part of who I am. Triathlon is my chosen medium for being who I am regarding my experience in this movement.
I am a person who loves movement and with endurance activities in particular, but I am also a person who likes to think and create. When I work at being better at triathlon, I am also creating a better version of myself. Better can sometimes mean I am getting faster when speed is my focus. It can also be that I am going longer, or that I am using triathlon to go to different places and experience these places through what I love. The movement of triathlon is an important part of my experience.
Triathlon is also is so intricate that it has me constantly looking for more information, seeking out people with a similar passion, which allows the free flow of information, ideas, empathy, and provides a connection. I think it's fair to say that we have benefitted from this in the formation of our friendship. In fact, my closest relationships have in some way started in a mutual love of movement (cross country, tennis, capture the flag in the woods, hiking, etc.).
Triathlon is a medium that supports my need for self expression (my book and my blog are examples of using my creative expression).
Triathlon moves me physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually, so I guess I would have to say living life is my passion, and triathlon allows me to live my life to the fullest, in the way that has deep meaning to me. Therefore, I am a triathlete in every sense of the word, so triathlon and I are inseparable. Triathlon then is my passion because I want to be better, and I want to do better in my triathlon exploits because of how it makes me better at being me.
Triathlon consumes me, but it is because I seek to be consumed by it. I not only love it, but cleary I live it. However, I find balance in my life with the understanding that triathlon can only make me better if I acknowledge and embrace the other things that make me better, such as God, my family, and my friends. Triathlon helps me to be a better Christian, husband, father, friend, and being.
I see this with you as well, but with body building (and other movement activities for that matter). It is your manner in which you express your physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual self. You are constantly seeking to create a better version of yourself. You research best practices, you seek what makes you healthier, better, and wiser. You share your knowledge and experiences with others. You keep yourself in motion. By doing what makes you who you are you are expanding your potential as a person and are able to find joy. With this joy, you are able to be a better person in all areas of your life.
Would a machine be best served sitting and rusting, or being used and improved? Our physical machines, if you want to look at it this way, propel us to be better versions of ourselves. So, our passion is being better at what we love, and we love life. Therefore we seek what allows us feel most alive.
Triathlon allows me feel alive.

BE YOU.

Peace brutha.