PURSUIT

The Veledrome... 

No, it's not something out of a Mad Max movie (cue Tina Turner speaking with a weird pseudo-English accent). We see the Veledrome at least once every four years during the Summer Olympic games. The veledrome is home to the Track Cycling events. My favorite is PURSUIT. There are two events within pursuit cycling; Team Pursuit and Individual Pursuit. (Though there are great analogies to build from Team Pursuit, I'm going with Individual Pursuit for this post). In Individual Pursuit, two riders begin directly opposite one another on the track. They race both against the clock and each other over four kilometers. If one rider overtakes the other... game over, he or she is the winner.

I like the Individual Pursuit. A rider sees the other rider (the goal), sees the track (the action plan), puts his head down and pedals hard. I also like the word PURSUIT. The word itself is active and has movement. Say it, pursuit - do you feel it?

Pursuit is what happens between aiming and the target (see my last post, BULLESYES). Pursuit is your plan in action. Pursuit is what happens between your dreaming and the realizing of your dream. And here's the kicker;

The way we pursue creates our current reality. 

When we realize one dream, or goal, we set another... and pursue. Therefore, our lives are about constant pursuit.

How we pursue says as much about us as what we pursue - or the dreams we dream. 

(If I were preaching instead of writing, I'd say that again; slowly and with dramatic emphasis).

I've shared this infographic in a couple previous posts. It illustrates an important point: My Action Plan (STRATEGY) and how I go about my action plan (PURSUIT) stand between my dreams and realizing my dreams. My strategy and my pursuit will either hinder reaching my goals or propel me toward them. Either way, these are the components that CREATE MY CURRENT REALITY!

My son and I watched The Secret Life of Walter Mitty again a couple days ago. It's a great picture of pursuit. The movie begins with Walter daydreaming about things he'd like to do and adventures he'd like to take. These daydreams include a love interest he secretly would like to make a reality. All the while, Walter isn't doing much. It turns out, however, that Walter has a deep and abiding vision. And his first steps of pursuit lead to deeper and more meaningful pursuit. Ultimately, Walter finds himself living a current reality that far exceeds even his wildest daydreams. (Let alone, creating for himself a world class eHarmony profile). And, although the movie wraps up with a happily-ever-after feel, it is not the end - the destination - that captures me. It is Walter's becoming that captures me; it is the man he discovers himself to be in the midst of PURSUIT!

Within you right now is the power to do things you never dreamed possible. This power becomes available to you just a soon as you can change your beliefs.

- Maxwell Maltz

For now...

D