The Dog that Ate Eternity

I saw it yesterday and put it into use today. It was one of those sometimes pithy quotes over a picture of a young, agile, athletic and devastatingly healthy person in a pose suggesting outdoor competition. The quote from For the Health of It is meant to inspire. You know the ones, "A winner never quits and a quitter never wins", over a cool shot of a 100 meter photo finish. All sweat and clenched teeth. Yeah, I know, they get me too. Most of 'em anyway. Yesterday's was the quote: 'I don't have time' is the adult version of 'the dog ate my homework'. 

Pretty clever I will admit. I like it. So shamelessly, I slipped it into the warm-up monologue this morning, chancing plagiarism and intellectual property infringement. And that opened the flood gates. 

Strange things sometimes happen with the sudden release of peptide neurotransmitters during the execution of high intensity indoor cycling intervals. From the pragmatic idea of time management to the metaphysical challenge of spatio-temporal situational awareness, we went, at mach 5, to honoring eternity by our devotion to the present moment. That nanosecond in the vast history of our minds that corresponds with quality, suffering, value and pain. 

Because it is only by total acceptance of the yin/yang connection of those opposites that we endure. 

Lessor species fade, forgotten as the strong move forward, living to fight another day. In the searing heat of athletic battle, the strong survive and the smart find ways to finesse life. You can run through the wall or scamper around it. Power versus speed. Brawn versus cunning. Or you can practice both. Adding art to science, muscle to movement and sheer force of will to dedication and desire. 

Whatever your choice of weapons, they must have the proper and adjacent mental component in the form of focus and a keen ability to hold that 'total presence' for long periods of time (defined here as somewhere between a nanosecond and eternity). In sprinting it can be as little as ten seconds. All out. For the Ironman it is more like eleven hours. Try THAT sometime! I had a friend once tell me that he couldn't even sleep for eleven hours, let alone swim, bike and run for 140 miles while maintaining a vigilant state of relaxed focus and performance flow. 

So our discipline to keeping mentally alert and finding that zone is a major part of our practice. Holding a power value while the body seeks release. Fighting the tendency to seek the path of least resistance. Taking the hard road. Inviting challenge. NOT MAKING EXCUSES. 

If we do anything less that our current absolute best at this, we lose the opportunity of the now. We lose the majesty of this moment. The now is wasted, and we will never get it back. EVER. Do not lose this moment folks. Use it wisely. Because,

HE WHO WASTES TIME, INJURES ETERNITY.