The tragedy of life...

My grandma(Gammy) had a saying posted on a mirror in her house that read, "The tragedy of life is not in the fact of death, but in what dies inside of you while you are still living."  It came from one of those "Quote-A-Day" calendars and was faded and taped carelessly to the mirror, but even so, I read it every time I visited her.  I really didn't understand it much when I was young.  As a young child, tragedy is not generally something that you can wrap your little mind around properly.  When I was six, a tragedy would be not getting to go outside and play with my best friend.  But I managed to file the quote away and ponder it's true meaning as I grew up.
My Gammy died and I felt broken.  We all went to gather the rest of her remains from her house and I spotted that quote, still in the same place it had been for 20 years.  I took it down carefully and brought it home to finally figure out what this little quote that had been so important to my Gammy, truly meant.  Here's what it means to me, and what has been with me for so long...
Dying isn't a tragedy in itself.  People die, for all sorts of reasons, and it's sad but it's a fact of life.  The fact is, we will all die someday.  Dying is not the sad part, but to die and never truly lived, is a tragedy.  So, live every day to it's fullest.  Do things that make you feel happy.  Live a little.  Don't spend time focusing on the negatives.  Instead, choose to let those things go quickly so you might move on to something positive.  If you hate running, don't run because you think you should to stay fit.  If you hate eating certain fruits, don't eat them because you think you should.  Find something you love and welcome it in to your life with a passion a dedication.  Find a fruit that you enjoy and eat it!  You get my drift?  Don't save your best bottle of wine for a special occasion.  TODAY is a special occasion!  Wear your favorite perfume, not because it's a certain day that is supposedly better than another, wear it today...because TODAY is a better day if you want it to be!  And that nice jewelry?  Wear it with your jeans.  Why not?
My life will not end in tragedy, because I have chosen to live every day to it's fullest.  And if I did happen to die this very day, I would be so glad that I pursued my fitness goals to their fullest, I raced my little butt off and won, I spent time with my loved ones, wore my favorite perfume just because, opened wine for no "special" reason, and wore my diamonds with my scrubs.  Hey...you are only promised today.  What will YOU do with it? 
 

You wouldn't listen, would you?

When I was a teenager, I knew everything. There was no use in telling me anything, or giving me advice.  So what if you had lived decades before me and had valuable life lessons.  I had it all figured out. It was a really bad attitude to have and I could have learned a lot from others had I only listened.
Fast forward to today. No longer a teenager, no longer believing that I know everything. Now, a competitive triathlete and pouring my heart and soul in to getting better with every training session. As an athlete, you get used to pains. You get used to icing, heating, elevating, compressing, medicating. Your body tells you things by showing pain. STOP. You should not go on. Do not pass go or collect $200. STOP. Again, stop. Please....stop. But do we listen? I don't. I push through it and tell myself that it's minor and will be better tomorrow. It's worked in the past, but now I am nursing an injury that has been going on for weeks and isn't promising to get better. My body warned me, but I didn't listen. This injury could potentially take me out for the season if it doesn't get better soon.
Hind sight is 20/20 and I know I should have listened at the first warning sign, but I took advantage and thought I knew better than my body did. Boy, was I wrong!
We expect our bodies to be super heroes, but then we don't listen when they tell us they need a break. Hey, even Superman took some time off here and there. To be an athlete means to encompass every part of it, and a valuable and very important part of it is recovering properly and resting when your body needs it. Listen to your body. It is wise beyond your own years and has a thing or two it can teach you...if you could just stop being a teenager and listen!