Inspiration from the Sidelines

Today I'm grumpy pants. November 1st has come and things haven't changed. More time. I've been arguing with life today about "what is" verses what "should be." I should be healthy. I should be able to train. I fear having to watch another tri season from the sidelines.

Oh help me Tom Cruise. Help me Oprah!

Most of our suffering comes from our refusals to accept what is. We are here now. The past is long gone, either good or bad, it no longer is. What we have is right here and now, our next step. I can't be anywhere else but where I am at this very moment.

I'm sick. I can't rush the healing process. I have done all I can to hunt down treatment options. I can only continue on this path and be patient. I'm not able to be a triathlete right now. This likely won't be forever but I may indeed have to forgo my race entries to CA70.3 & IM CDA. There's absolutely nothing I can do about it.

So I'm looking here and now. And forward.

How To Love Your Life's Path

• Accept and love yourself first. No matter what you are working toward in life or what you think your purpose is, the best way to fulfill your dreams and reach your goals is to love yourself. According to one Buddhist saying, "You cannot travel the path until you become the path itself." If you want to love the path you're on, you have to love you, your very being. This is the driving force behind your life's purpose. This is the first step to making peace with your life and loving the path you're on.

• Let go of your (good or bad) past. When your mind is wandering constantly back to the past, you are not really moving forward or embracing the present moment. You are stuck in one spot, looking backwards. Remind yourself that the past -- whether it was good or bad -- is over. You cannot go back there and you will never again be the person you were in the past. You are You now, and the person you are now is the person you must focus on. Reliving scenes from the past wastes time and energy that could be spent focusing on the path you're heading down. Learn from your past, love your past (if you can), but let it go. You may need the lessons, but you don't need the baggage. Drop right now on the path and keep on moving.

• Believe in power of our life. Whatever our purpose, it is part of a collective purpose, a universal state of living that we are all experiencing. Our thoughts, feelings, and actions contribute to life. We have a part in influencing the course of human nature. Be grumpy and notice how people are influence by our negativity. Live positively and see how our energy can ignite those around us. Those people interact with others, and others, and others. Embrace our influence, no matter how small the thought or deed.

Watch your thoughts for they become your words.

Watch your words for they become your actions.

Watch your actions for they become your habits.

Watch your habits for they become your legacy.

• Stop worrying about the future. We don't know if the future will ever come, so what are we getting so worried about? Okay, I know it's not that simple. There are things to do, people to see, places to go. The future is there. We know it's probably coming. But the more we worry and stress about it, the less we are enjoying the present moment (the only thing that's truly guaranteed). If we're not living in the present, we're not really loving the path you're on. We're looking for something better or different in the future and, really, there's no sense in that. Stay in the now as much as we can. Don't look to the future as a place where we'll someday be happier or wealthier or better. You are, just as you are right now, perfectly you and that's just what and where you need to be.

• Love what your life is right now. Most of us can't say that with 100% certainty, we love our life as it is right now. But why not? Why can't we love everything as it is right now? What's stopping us from accepting that the life we are living right now is our perfect, ideal life? There is nothing better for us out there other than what we are are experiencing right now. When we think that our life is unfolding just as it should, that nothing is a mistake, and that everything is happening for a reason, we are much more at peace with ourselves and the world. If we love our life as it is now, we don't have to revisit the past. We also don't have to wait hopefully for the future. We can be here, now, happy.