By David Tepera, February 21, 2019
When competing in sports, there’s the ultimate goal to win trophies or championships. Depending on which sport, the season could be a couple of months or up to a year.
Last year, Dylan, Tina and I competed in a national body building championship, and it took over seven months to prepare for it. Since I’m already a masters pro champion, our goal was for Tina to win her pro card.
Just know, in 2018, Dylan was still competing in the teen category, so pro status opportunity wasn’t available, even though he won first place.
Along the way, during those long seven grinding months, our lives were completely consumed with training and dieting. In body building, there’s rarely a day off when preparing for a show.
There were many days that getting to the gym was tiring, constantly eating clean foods was old and boring, plus recovering from extensive workouts became exhausting.
It was during these challenging times, I would make everyone stop and take in the moment. My message to them was, “remember, being on stage is just one day, but our journey to get there should be the moments we must bond and embrace.”
Isn’t that what life’s all about? Don’t we all set goals for ourselves to complete? This could be education, a long prosperous marriage, raising children, running a marathon or any athletic event.
Each one of those examples takes a long time to accomplish, but it will one day come to an end. Even our lives have a final destination, so what impact did you make along the way?
We all get up each day to fight our way through the grind of life, but we must take a step back and realize the journey is the most important part of it.
Sometimes you don’t win championships or trophies, but if you gave it your best, you’ll love the process to get there. Those are the memories you should cherish the most.
Don’t forget, you’re in other people’s journey, so give your kids a big hug, embrace your spouse, and let loved ones know how much you care. Remember, it’s the journey of life that will determine your final destination, so enjoy the ride.