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Saturday, July 28, 2007

Perspective


Last night Kelly and I were mentioning the comments our respective mothers had made about Ironman. After my last bike crash my mother suggested I take up something less dangerous... she suggested Tennis. Aside from my inability to play tennis she also seemed to be unaware of the injuries that sport causes. Kelly's mother compared Ironman to going into space. I wonder if she's a Dilbert fan. Apparently there are others who seem to think endurance runs and triathlons are just as outlandish as orbiting the earth.
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The cartoon above appeared on my desk, years ago, at Samsung. At the time, I was the only one in the building who'd done anything longer than a sprint triathlon and I think many people I worked with thought I was crazy. That has changed and there are now quite a few Samsung'ers who have taken part.
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At some point, many years ago, I recall being in a meeting with the Facilities guys. One of them asked me if I'd ever do an Ironman. "Those people are crazy," was my reply. I think back to that story a lot. It's good to keep changing your perspective towards life and it's adventures.
On Tuesday I was feeling very stressed by my lack to time to get everything done. I walked into dynamics class and one of the guys asked how I was doing. I said I was feeling stressed at which point another guy asked point blank, "Have you ever had a gun pointed at your head?"
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"No, have you?" I replied in a half confused, half curious manner.
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"Yes. It puts everything into much better perspective."
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Although the thought of having a gun pointed at your head is grim he definitely proved a point. It's astonishing to me how much I've learned this summer. In a mere 30 sec conversation you can learn a great deal from someone. The important thing is to keep your eyes and ears open so you don't miss those lessons. That guy in my class shared something very profound with me. He reminded me how amazing my experiences are and how lucky I am to have them, even though he doesn't know much about me at all.

3 comments:

Shannon said...

Hi Michelle: I enjoy so much reading about your adventures and Michael's. Am very happy when you refer to something I said and my concerns for you when doing Ironman. You should know, that in 1972, I was 21 years old and living in downtown Albany. I could walk home for lunch and did so only to walk into my apartment (shared with Jack) with a very tall man (black) in the bathroom taking all the jewelry out of the closet and had all the stero equipment on the floor by the front door. He came out of the bathroom and took my purse with just cashed work check and ran out the door. Next thing I knew there were police, and having to go look at mug shots. At 21 you don't think about things the same as when you are 55 and a mother. Imagine how my mother felt the next day when she read about that incident in the morning paper while she had her first cup of coffee.

Panther said...

I don't know you, but I stumbled across your blog--I think I got here from Meredith's. Anyway, I like your blog--your pictures are goofy, ridiculous, and quite creative. Maybe our paths will cross someday.

Panther said...

By the way, I don't know why it says I'm posting at 3:31 AM. It's not 3:31 AM.