Belonging

When I started this blog, I thought the answers in life would just come to me. That I'd have these grand visions. The blogs I've read seem to be overflowing with deep knowledge. Yesterday, I realized something - the great truths are in everyday life. They're not these grand visions that are going to appear in a flash of light. They're the dim lightbulbs that appear when I watch my children.

My 3 year old taught me that everyone wants to belong. She so desperately wants to be like her big sister, the 4 year old, that she'll copy her almost word for word. We all want to belong. That's what I love about triathlon. I used to be a competitive cyclist (I'd compete, but not well). But the competitors were ruthless. It wasn't friendly at all, if it was, it was so your competition would let their guard down. From the moment I began training and then competed in my sprint triathlon, I can tell it's different in this sport. The greatest glory of triathlon is in competing, in completing, not just winning. Competitors are encouraging each other, but it's a test of who you are, without necessarily comparing yourself directly to others. And that's a community I want to belong to. That's what I want to be a part of. Like my 3 year old, I want to belong. And in triathlon, everyone belongs.