My Olympic Training

There are very few sporting events that really get me excited and pumped up (two, to be exact).  THE OLYMPICS and the NCAA March Madness Tournament.  The anticipation of the Olympics (both Summer & Winter) get my pulse racing, my heart beating quicker and my adrenaline rushing.  I LOVE THE OLYMPICS.  They are awesome!  I will actually stand in front of my t.v. and yell and cheer the athletes on...it's SO EXCITING!!

There are many aspects to the Olympics that I find interesting.  I love that despite the differences we all have, the pride in our country is what unifies us.  I admit whenever I hear the National Anthem and see our gorgeous flag hoisted over the podium, it gets me every time.  I have to fight back tears as I become so incredibly proud of the athletes that represent us and even greater pride in the country in which we live.

The athletes are another reason I love to watch the Olympics.  You know they compete because they want to...because it drives them...they have an inward push that makes them covet the gold like no other.  Talk about determination.  Can you imagine literally the blood, sweat and tears that go into training for the Olympics?  I think part of the reason that I admire them so much is that secretly I envy them.  I wish I could be that good at something...but then I have to remind myself that they are called to do that.  The reason they are so good at it is that they answered their calling.  They are doing what they are meant to be doing.

We are all called to do something...and we are called to endure, through the pain, the fatigue, and sometimes the agony that this life can bring us through.  Not everything in life is easy, but if it were then it wouldn't mean as much to us in the end.

With that being said, I have a confession to make:

I AM TIRED.  Exhausted.  Some of you may not know that I am currently finishing my bachelors degree...18 years later than I should of finished.  I'm about to be 36 years old, and I am a full time college student.  Why, you may ask?  (Sometimes I ask myself this question too)...

Because I gave up on myself many years ago, and I quit school before I earned my bachelors degree.  I can still hear the grief in my mom's voice when I told her I was quitting.  With a burden that has followed me most of my adult life (that nagging voice in the back of my head, telling me I gave up on college), I decided to quit talking about what I was going to do in my life, and actually do it.  You ever have one of those moments? 

Like, I'm gonna paint the living room one day...and then two years go by and you realize you've never gotten around to it?

Or, I'm gonna go on that trip...and your bags stay stuffed in your closet, because the tickets never got reserved?

It happens to all of us.  Time, money, life, kids...they are all good reasons for not getting around to something...

But for me, it was time to step up to the starting line, wait for the gun to sound and begin my race.

So, I did.  I enrolled in school, picked my major (BA in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing).  Many of my classes have been a joy, while others (ACCOUNTING STINKS) have been nothing short of a challenge.  I failed both my accounting classes and had to re-take them.  Tears of frustration and aggravation poured down my face many times during those classes...but I kept going.  I knew that I had to pass those classes to earn my degree.

Some people have even asked me what I'm gonna get out of having my degree.  It will not earn me a promotion, it will not get me a better salary.  What I can say though, is that it has already given me satisfaction.  Satisfaction of knowing that I am working towards a goal of mine.  Satisfaction in that I am not just saying I'm doing something:  I'm really DOING it. 

And, the truth is: college has helped me.  Many of the classes I have taken have given me knowledge that I have been able to apply to my every day life.  It has made me a better business person, a better writer, even a better thinker.  I feel that it has helped shape me into a more well-rounded person. 

In fact, I don't think that I would of had the same experience then, as I have now.  One benefit of aging is maturing :)

I started school in early Spring of 2009, and have now completed 108 hours...I have to get to 120...12 hours away.  Why does it seem more like 120 hours, and not just 12?  I am this close, I can SEE the finish line...and yet as I get closer to the end, I am realizing how absolutely EXHAUSTED I am.  But as I have realized over the last week, while pondering my situation, its not at the beginning of the race that counts as much as the end.  It may have taken me a LONG TIME to get to where I am...but the point is, I HAVEN'T GIVEN UP. 

Up until Friday I thought I was only going to have to complete 3 more classes, because my academic advisor thought I could get one more old college class to transfer...but I officially got word on Friday that it was not going to work out that way.  I have four more months to go, instead of 3.  I had a moment of self-pity and sat in silence for a few minutes of frustration.  But then I got up, wiped away the frustration and got back into it. 

My main source of discouragement was realizing that I will have to wait until May 2013 to walk across the stage and wear the most coveted hat of my existence: my mortar board and tassel.  Technically I will be finished in December, but I will just miss the cut off by 2 weeks to participate in commencement, so I will have to wait to graduate until then. 

Moving on...

My main goal in sharing this with you all is to encourage you to keep it up.  Whatever it is in your life that is weighing on you, or perhaps its something that has nagged you for years.   Maybe its in fact to go back to school...maybe its to amend a broken relationship...maybe its to look for a new job.  Maybe its painting your living room!!  Whatever it may be, just do it.  Just try...and if at first you don't succeed, then try, TRY AGAIN.  When you feel exhausted, and you don't think there is another ounce of energy or gumption left in you, PRAY.  The Lord wants us to cast all our cares upon Him.  Let Him be the one to carry you the last leg of the race...that's what He WANTS to do.

Think about those Olympic athletes, how tired and exhausted they are, the last leg of their race....

I know you can do it. 

" I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, 
I have KEPT the FAITH." ~ 2 Timothy 4:7

My Siblings and I in front of the Olympic Stadium at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games