Carpe Diem

I was a pretty bad-ass water polo player in high school, not that I'm bragging, I really was very good.  I had some good coaching and some not so good coaching but I 100% embraced the sport and the lifestyle and I ran with it. 

Looking back, it's easy to remember the goals scored, the victories, the accolades and honors, and the bittersweet defeat in the championship game.  Those things readily come to mind.  What I tend to forget is all the hours that went into making those memories possible.  

I remember in the fall of my junior year of high school my Dad brought his old bench press from his football days into our living room so that I could lift weights while I was watching TV.  I can't even tell you how many afternoons I spent lifting.  It seemed like every day.  As soon as I got home from swim practice I would have something to eat and go in and flip on the tube and lift weights until lunch.

I remember sacrificing so many summer afternoons with my friends because I had practice. Not to say my teammates weren't my friends, but I missed out on the afternoons with the people I hung out with at lunch during the school-year because none of them were water polo players.

I guess what I'm trying to illustrate is the price I paid was well worth it in the end, and also hardly a blip on the radar when I look back.  I'm trying to remind myself of that lesson now, as I'm trying to pull together a plan for my professional future.  I may be struggling, and I may be feeling the strain, but if I keep my shoulder down and work at it this too shall pass.  And hopefully I'll have some more great accomplishments to be proud of.

I need to find something I love as much as I loved water polo in high school.  Something I can throw myself into 100%.  I reached a point where I felt I had lost too much of myself in the sport, and I told myself (and everyone around me) that I wanted to do what made me happy and live my life without the constraints of my rigorous schedule.  Now I admit, there's a part of me miss that all-consuming obsession with something that I was so successful at.  

I've spent too long resting on my laurels, going with the flow, and letting the path of least resistance dictate my future.  I want to carpe the shit out of this diem.