Appreciation

At 36 years of age it has taken me awhile but I can honestly say that I have finally been able to appreciate some of the finer things in life. I think when I was younger I just took most of these things for granted as things that were just suppose to happen. The problem with this very narrow focus of thinking is that we never truly tell those people how much they are appreciated, we never sit back and appreciate how great our life is and sometimes we never change as individuals because we just assume that everything will stay the course and never change.

I have had lots of time to think the past 5 days as I was left behind as my family went away on vacation and it has left me time to ponder what I appreciate most in this life. I could go on forever as hundreds of things come to mind but there are three things that stand out in my mind as the most important things in my life.

Number one will always be my family. The first day they were away I can honestly say was great as I was able to get about 6 hours in of uninterrupted Ironman training. Then reality hit me the next morning I woke...I missed my ladies very much. The craziness of three girls along with always having my best friend next to me was missing and I felt empty. My wife is the most amazing person I have ever met and is the main reason that I always push on to be the best person I can be more cause I guess I always want to impress her. I see so much of her in my daughters which constantly puts a smile on my face. In the end I appreciate how much they love me and how no matter what happens day to day they are always there for me.

Number two is the sport of triathlon. The sport came into my life when I graduated college and has opened so many doors for me in life. I have been able to place large goals on my shoulders through triathlon and the confidence I have gained in the sport has lead me to a confidence that anything is possible as long as you have a solid plan of attack and never give up. There have been many races over the past 14 years where I reached a dark place in the race but the constant one foot in front of another has lead me out of that darkness and into a place of accomplishing any goal I want. The other thing that has come out of triathlon is the people I have met over the years. Triathlon attracts some of the most incredible people you will ever meet in your life and I want everyone of you to know how gratefull and appreciative I am to have you in my life.

Number three is my mother in law Susan. Many of you that know me know that I am a Chicago boy who eventually planted roots in Texas and thought I would never leave. We had everything from very successful jobs, incredible friends, beautiful house (without east coast prices) and life was perfect. Well not perfect enough as we didn't have extended family nearby and mostly grandparents to be exact. In the end we decided to move to Maryland to be near my wife's family and although it has been challenging at times I must say that it has been one of the best decisions we have ever made. My mother in law is one of the most unselfish, funny, intelligent and most incredible grandmas out there. She has made my daughters life's so rich and full of experiences that one day I hope they understand how great they have it.  She is always there for us no matter the time of day and the whole stigma of having bad in-laws missed me as I am very lucky to have such an amazing woman in my life. She has confirmed my decision that moving was the right decision and I want her to know how appreciative I am to have her around.

I ask everyone to just take a second today and let someone in your life know how appreciative you are of them and how they make your life that much better. I promise they will enjoy hearing the words and they may spread the word on to someone else which in turn will make the world a little better place to live.

On a side note I have turned my 10 days away from family into Epic Camp Jake which means I have nothing else to do but fit in a huge training week. I will fill you in with numbers once I am done with my own training camp but so far in 5 days I am at 18 hours of training and trying to balance improvement with recovery...exciting times!!!

Make It Count!!!!