When I was a kid, my best friend and I were considered “tom boys” because we were very sporty. We loved to run and it was a hobby of ours to “beat the boys” in the 1 km run we had to do in gym class. Most of the time we did!
When we were 14 to 16 years old we would meet a 6 am on a street corner half way between our houses to run. I remember pitch black Edmonton winter mornings in the -20’s with a strange fondness.We had to meet that early because Nancy had to do her paper route after that and before school! We couldn’t call each other to “bail out” because we’d wake each others’ households so we HAD to be there. During our runs together, we’d discuss which Olympic sport we’d want to represent Canada at…hers was badminton and mine was marathon running (ha ha ha).
I guess you might say that “life got in the way”. But the two of us have stayed active throughout the 20 years since those early morning runs and we’ve both run marathons and she competed at a National level in badminton. But somewhere, those “BIG DREAMS” of the Olympics disappeared.
I recently read the story of Ruben Gonzales, who at the age of 20 (quite late in a potential Olympic athlete’s life to take up a new sport) decided he wanted to go to the Olympics. He found out the luge would be his best chance. Despite being informed that almost everyone who participates in the sport breaks a bone before mastering hurtling down a 1 mile course at 90-miles-per-hour or more, he was not discouraged! To make a long story short, he went to the Calgary Olympics in 1988, Albertville in 1992 and Salt Lake City in 2002. I haven’t looked up if he went to Torino in 2006 but he had plans to! He would be 46 now and most athletes would have been half his age!
Is there an endeavor you have put aside because “you’re not a kid anymore” and life is full of adult obligations? I don’t believe it’s ever too late! Really. Perhaps I have my parents to thank for this belief. My mother decided she would become a synchronized swimmer in her 50’s with a masters group that competes yearly and performed their routines at the World Masters Games held in Edmonton a few years back. My dad decided that if his kids could run marathons, so could he…after 25 years of running 3 miles three times a week, at 49 he decided to run 26.2 miles before he turned 50. He’s now completed at least 8 marathons and is 65 years young.
Ok, maybe my family isn’t typical but I encourage you not to shelf those dreams, that have child-like proportions (ie. BIG OLYMPIC size dreams) but be moved into action by them!
Have a great, inspired day!
Sue
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