I can’t wait until next Saturday…but I have to. Anticipation and excitment tempt me to wish my week away, but I am going to fight to hold on to the present. I’ve spent all year training hard to look my best for Saturday, November 13th, the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater, Florida. I traveled to Scotland to compete in Du Worlds so that I could have more world championship experience to prepare me for Novemeber 13th; I’ve also bought a pay-check’s worth of pink apparel, and I’ve spent many an early morning and late evening doing an extra swimming, biking or running workout.
The excitement and anticipation in life of getting to do or get what we want is part of what makes life so very fun. This weekend I feel like the bear in this photograph, on the edge of the waterfall, reaching out for the fish that I’m about to get. My fish is getting to race next weekend in Clearwater, and my fish will come. However, the more time I spend in anticipation, the slower my time will come and the more I will be wasting the gift of the present. This week I am going to sit back, trust my training, enjoy my time at work and with friends, and be stress-free about any anticipation for Clearwater.
I challenge you this weekend to embrace your present. Allow yourself to look forward to the exciting things that are to come in your life this week or this month, but don’t allow the anticipation to destroy your ability to maximize the present. Overthinking the future doesn’t make it come any faster. Catch yourself at the waterfall’s edge today and live fresh.