Surrounded by greatness

 it’s still hard to admit that in my formidable years, I had plenty of days where I wished my height, curly hair, shyness or athleticism wouldn’t be such impediments to achieving  ‘cool’ status in school. the lackluster brew of ingredients in looks, attitude and sport were just not in the right proportions for “Best Dressed”, “Most Likely to be voted Prom Queen”, or any other worldly goal of my 13-year old mind.

i came to believe if i could surround myself by greatness, I, too, would be great. My only problem back then was my definition of greatness. 

 

fortunately, i had amazing parents. whose belief and confidence in me wasn’t hinging on my ‘cool factor’.

 

fast forward a lot of years and i’ve concluded that sport played a monumental role in redefining greatness for me.  Now, i find myself building an international community  of women that shares that powerful and influential message with eachother each and every day. 

 

I strive everyday to learn from the powerful lessons some incredible athletes have taught me.  Two in particular stick out. From these two athletes, I’ve been reminded to relax and get over myself; to find the fun in the extraordinarily difficult; to focus and concentrate; to give most to those you love and trust, and to treasure the gifts that health grants us – the gift of movement, power and strength.

 

One is my coach, my friend and my mentor in endurance sport.  The other is my friend, my advisor and my confidante. Both are ridiculously funny, witty and wicked smart. Both are richly 3-dimensional and use sport as a means to much larger end, never as the end itself.

 

Lesley Paterson.  Crowned the Xterra World Champion Oct 23, 2011 in Maui, Hi. Script writer, film producer and actress. A Scot with attitude, fire in her belly, and more spit and power in her 5 feet of body than you’ll ever see.

Final yards to finish line

 

Chrissie Wellington. 4x World Ironman Champion, and world-class beer guzzler (link to photo). Multiple world records while showing the women “Chicking the guys” is absolutely possible (if you just believe).  Extraordinary advocate for women and girls in sport. And a Brit whose international development career, before triathlon, changed the planet for the better, and whose focus on doing more of the same will only lead more of us to wonder how we can help her to do so.

 

 

 

In your pursuits – whether they are professional, athletic or personal – how are you surrounding yourself with greatness? And how are you defining what ‘greatness’ is….

 

Onward and upward, always.