"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life. Electric word, life. It means forever, and that's a mighty long time." - Prince
My city burned with the pain and grief only true evil can bring about last Thursday night. For me, the tragedy and terror that unfolded before me came at the end of a particularly challenging week that had already left me grieving the loss of two lives.
The beautiful thing about this quest for fitness and a different existence I've undertaken is I have an outlet for my emotions. Matt Foreman wrote an article that sums it up: We All Go to the Same Therapist. The further I walk down this road, the more accurate this becomes.
At the end of the week, I found myself in the gym on Saturday morning telling my coach/nutritionist about my week. She was right when she said "this one's going to be cathartic." Somewhere around meter 1700 of rowing, I had my cathartic moment. Sometimes those moments come in tears, but not this time. This time it was a realization: I have to do this because others can't. I owe it to myself and to them to be the best I can be and to be the person I want to be.
Life is a gift. The choices you make - the way you treat others, the way you treat yourself - are a manifestation of how you value that gift.
Today I chose to be kind to myself, and to work hard both for the things i must do, and toward my goals. Today I lived the life others couldn't.