DON'T STOP BELIEVIN'...

When I was 42 I got into the best shape of my life... outwardly. The problem was how I got there. At the time ephedra was legal and sold in every gym and supplement shop. Ripped Fuel, Yellow Devils, Green Stinger... the names alone should have given me a clue the stuff was unhealthy. (Side note: Quick fixes are very seldom fixes at all; and yes, that nugget was free). I got lean, leaner than I had been when playing football half a life time before. I remember one particular day in the gym, however. I was working legs hard. I finished a set of squats and when I stepped away from the bar I realized I could hear my heart. (That can't be good). I'm pretty sure I could see it beating through my shirt; and it wasn't thump, thump. It was more like a Dave Grohl drum solo. My head was light and the butterflies in my stomach felt like drunken hummingbirds. I had reached my goal. But I cheated to get there. And I felt like my heart, and or brain, was going to explode.

I'd like to say I learned a life-lesson. Instead, It actually has taken many more years to crystallize. In a nutshell:

Winning in life is not about a destination, it is about a JOURNEY. 

(Now do you get the title of this post? Just try to get that song out of your head...).

I've been reading quite a bit about motivation. Recently I read the transcript of a Ted Talk that Daniel Pink delivered. Pink said: "Winning is not about how a journey ends... (it is) the very act of dreaming and then pursuing it with passion and dignity. We win when we pursue the goal with optimism, preparation, discipline and respect. Real winning is when we push ourselves beyond what we know we can do toward what we truly want to achieve."

So here's my take away; winning is not about the destination, it is about the journey. (I realize I just wrote that above, but as an ex-preacher my training says that I'm supposed say it three times and add a poem to get the point across). Winning is not about crossing the finish line first; it is about how we run the race. As a dreamer, I must also take note that winning is not in dreaming (only). Winning is the result of DREAMING & PURSUING!

So the natural questions become: What am I dreaming? And, how am I pursuing? 

I'm going to pick up the idea of the pursuit in the next post. 

Speaking of motivation, these were a couple of my Facebook posts from a couple weeks ago.

In the immortal words of Steve Perry (If you don't know who he is... really? C'mon!): Don't stop believin'... hold on to your feeeeellliiiinnnggggsss...

In the (even better) words of the Apostle Paul:

... run to win!

For now...

D