Quitting

This a word that I have never used in my life as I have always contributed it to taking the easy way out. In my mind the easy way out never allows us to learn anything about ourselves or grow as individuals. Don't get me wrong though...with everything that I have accomplished in my life so far there have been plenty of moments when failure was the ultimate outcome and quitting would have been a lot easier then finishing the task.

Growing up my parents worked extremely hard and most of the time worked a second job or two so that my sisters and I could enjoy everything that our friends had. They could have quit many times and told my sisters and I to suck it up but in the end they didn't. They woke up every morning with the determination to work as hard as they could and not let anything set them back so that their family could live the good life.

It is hard for me to say this but this morning the word quit came out of my mouth for the first time in my 37 years of existence. Any one close to me knows that myself and my family have a lot going on currently with a new addition to the family, growing professional success, a constant desire to always make sure my daughters are striving to the next level, a growing coaching business and on top of that my passion to reach the island of kona at Ironman Lake Placid this summer. Well being a family man my training has taken a back seat since the baby was born and the constant toll of trying to get all the training in finally broke me.

I said to my wife this morning that "I QUIT and that i was backing out of Lake Placid this summer". Of course my wife's first reaction was excuse me as that is not typical talk used in the Oergel household. The mounting pressure of getting workouts in and the occasion zero days were starting to take there toll and the easiest reaction I had was to run for the hills.

After a while of selfish ranting I had to take a step back and realize that I am not allowed to "Quit" and I thought of three close friends who would literally smack me in the face for even thinking of it. My wife's cousin Jimmy, who recently passed away from brain cancer, would have loved even 10 seconds a day to exercise and enjoy life a little more. My best buddy in the world and brother from another mother Eduardo who was told by doctors that he would never race again due to a heart condition never gave up and pushed on for almost 2 years with the small hope that God would give him the gift of long distance torture just one more time....and sure enough he did and will also be racing Lake Placid this summer. Then there is another buddy of my Brian who just recently was released by his neurologist to race again after months of major neurological problems sustained from a motor vehicle accident in which he was lucky to walk away. There are millions of more storied out there that touch me all the time.

So after some selfishness this morning I have come to the conclusion that I will not QUIT. I will continue to course although maybe a shorted course due to family obligations but I will toe the start line in Lake Placid with the will to just give it my best that day.

Part of my job as a health care provider has been also helping people mentally acquire their goals and stay true to the course. I think its about time that I listened to myself.