Waiting on the World to Change

“Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow - that is patience.” ~unknown

I believe that some things name themselves. 

My red Jeep Patriot mirrors the first car I ever bought on my own, part of this long mid-life crisis that has me determined to seize my own destiny, Scarlett O’Hara style.  Driving Scarlett is freedom and a little bit of my mischievous, reckless youth.

The first moment I rode my black Specialized bike I knew her name was Spunky, for that’s how she made me feel.  She is all speed and my way of throwing off the bounds of gravity and coming as close as I can to flying under my own power.  She is all mischief and spunk.

My beautiful black lab Lucy came to us as a pup, and it took her a few days to earn her name.  One afternoon when we came home to chewed shoes, I knew she was trouble just as Peanuts character Lucy van Pelt has been right from the start.  Years later she has mellowed but she still shows the mischief in her heart when we play catch, and she demands I chase her to get her ball.

And this week, after a long 10 year wait, I am convinced my triathlon team has named itself.  A single pair of words from the thousands I have written over the years has led to the fabulous Rachel Gardiner and Nicki Drumb designing the logo you see.  The logo represents us so well… strong, beautiful, a little wild.  Much to my delight there is mischief in their design, a quality I find in all the important things in my life.  Our Tri triBE is official and soon this website will permanently carry this design.

I am so grateful for Nicki and Rachel’s efforts to help me with this dream.  Their ability to see both the “tri” in tribe and the “BE” is what makes this design so special, for it is this continual journey, this endless becoming, that makes what we are doing so powerful and transformative. 

Their efforts have also reminded me of an important lesson.  It was because of patience that this Tri triBE, this name, has come to be. I did not see what they saw in all these years, and I cannot create what they have made.  It has taken me 10 years to meet these amazing women, and I am blessed to know them. 

But this journey also reminds me to treat each challenge with patience.  In dealing with my current injury, I must be patient.  In improving my fitness and stamina, I must be patient.  In raising my sons, in teaching my students, in loving my friends, in building my character, I must be patient.  Nothing worth doing, nothing worth being seems to come easy. It is through a patient and determined struggle that the best things in my life have come to me.  This team and the women I have met are truly some of the best parts of my life.  I am so grateful for patience.

Patience is the companion of wisdom.  ~Saint Augustine

Train safely, eat well, hydrate, sleep, stretch.

Safe journey.  Wind at your back.