Activations: Worth Your Best Effort

This originally appeared in the March issue of SwimBikeRun St. Louis Magazine, the only triathlon magazine to officially agree with Three 6 Mafia that it really is hard out there for a pimp.

Activation – noun: making active and effective

Without the defined goals and window of time that the Olympics have provided elite area athletes like Steve Warner (rowing), Jackie Joyner-Kersee (track and field), Craig Virgin (10,000 meters), and 2008 hopeful Sarah Haskins (triathlon), how can amateur or recreational athletes establish their timelines or specific windows of opportunity to achieve their goals?

In the bigger picture and in context of the world’s history, an individual’s lifespan appears to be an insignificant blip. Historian E. H. Gombrich most eloquently described time as a river:

“But now let us quickly drop down in our plane towards the river. From close up, we can see it is a real river, with rippling waves like the sea. A strong wind is blowing and there are little crests of foam on the waves. Look carefully at the millions of shimmering white bubbles rising and then vanishing with each wave. Over and over again, new bubbles come to the surface and then vanish in time with the waves. For a brief instant they are lifted on the wave’s crest and then they sink down and are seen no more. We are like that. Each one of us no more than a tiny glimmering thing, a sparkling droplet on the waves of time which flow past beneath us into an unknown misty future. We leap up, look around us and, before we know it, we vanish again. We can hardly be seen in the great river of time. New drops keep rising to the surface. And what we call our fate is no more than a struggle in that great multitude of droplets in the rise and fall of one wave. But we must make use of that moment. It is worth the effort.”

It is worth the effort to do your best, to make your life — insignificant as it may seem in the river of time — worthwhile and purposeful in the goals you strive for, the work you do, and the relationships you develop.

Legendary distance runner Steve Prefontaine summed it up nicely: "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." I believe he was talking about the gift of time and abilities that go into giving everything you have to whatever you feel is worthwhile.

In my early twenties, I was chosen to play in an All-Star soccer game against a team of former pros from the United Kingdom. Their roster included George Best, then in his forties, but still a magician on the ball and known as one of the greatest players of all time, right up there with Pele. The irony of his last name being Best and his stature as one of the greatest “footballers” is regretfully footnoted by his struggles in life with alcoholism and recent death.

Both Pre and Best had achieved so much in their sports, inspiring the world in their greatness. Yet both, sadly, were unable to make full “use of that moment” as “sparkling droplets on the waves of time.”

You and I probably won’t be mentioned as one of the greatest of all time in anything. Yet I’m convinced that if you set a high bar for yourself and do your best to achieve that standard, then you will have made good use of the moment, that sparkling droplet — your life — and the aspects that you deem important, whether that means your athletics, career, family, or friendships.

Be warned, though, that as you “leap up” in the great river of time, your best may not always be accepted or recognized as such by others or by your toughest critic — yourself. Have faith that it matters that you are doing what you can. And don’t get discouraged.

Vietnam prisoner of war Captain Gerald Coffee said, “The decisions we make out of loneliness and pain, uncertainty and fear, can take us to the extremes of shame and pride. The turning point that changes adversity into opportunity, or defeat into victory comes when we are willing to forgive ourselves. Too often, our unreasonable expectations lead to self-judgment and guilt. Our best is the best we can do.”

So even when life is a struggle and the effort to be your best at the things that matter in your life feels overwhelming — and you question if your best even is good enough — take the advice of American Ironman champion Chris Lieto:

“Never stop fighting; it always pays off in the end if you give it your all.”

Respect,
JPD