A few months ago I came to a long overdue conclusion about myself: I’ve never stopped thinking of myself as an athlete even though I haven’t played an organized sport for more than half my life.

This is a short story of why I haven’t posted here in a while. I’ve been pretty busy reorganizing some aspects of my life around this mini-epiphany.

When I was a kid I played baseball, football, practiced martial arts, and would beg anyone around me to catch whatever I was going to throw at them… for hours. The notion of treating my mind, body, and emotions as seriously as an athlete would has stuck with me since those days.

When I was in school, being a “student athlete” was an achievement worth recognizing.  Kids who would do well in school and sport were somewhat rare and it was obvious they had mastered a life skill so many others hadn’t. 

Yet as an adult, it seems all we’re trying to do is survive.  Somewhere along the lines, people give up on being extraordinary – to be that “student athlete” in life.  They’re just trying to get through to tomorrow.

Through years of business, marriage, kids… ups and downs… my system is still running that base ‘student athlete operating system’. It forms the foundation of who I am despite the fact that I’ve never been very good at any sport!

Shortly after realizing this, I started embracing it more as a part of who I am. This meant thinking about myself as an athlete “in training” instead of as someone who “stays in shape”.

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