2.0.1.2., or "a sublime dozen"

Happy New Year to everyone out there!

I have been meaning to sit down and sum up 2011.  It seems a mountainous task.  I could just lump together all of my blog posts and that would pretty much cover it.  So I won't rehash much here, but feel free to peruse my earlier posts at your leisure.  If I dislike anything in 'blogs', particular ones related to the multisport world, it's the ones that just keep repeating the same thing.

So I'm going to tell you what this year meant to me, I hope, in a reasonably realistic and precise manner.


It's 2012, there are 12 months, so maybe I can make 12 statements.  12 may be my new lucky number.

yes, 12 trees

1.  This year was eye opening.  Never assume you're not great at something just because you're not good at it yet.

2.  Come Christmas time, I needed and wanted nothing.  I had never had that feeling before in my life (and I'm reasonably frugal).  I had been given or achieved all I wanted and that left me with nothing but peace. I had left behind any sense of bitterness as if I had 'deserved' something.  I was quietly elated.

3.  I learned to love mayonnaise, eggs and potatoes in a way I never thought possible.

4.  I feel I've tacked a few years onto the end of my life not because of fitness, but because at age 30, I was able to stop for a moment & think about life.  Simply put, I could remove stupid, accumulative stress and negativity, and let my physiological system thrive in an optimum environment of exercise, rest and nourishment (see #3).

5.  I love swimming.  It shocks me every day.

6.  Your fastest performance is not necessarily your most special.  Hold onto your proudest moments when they happen and stop searching for more.  Don't rush it.  They'll come when they need to.  If you enjoy the pureness of sport, everything takes care of itself.

7.  I learned what 'inspiration' really was.  I watched a friend run a marathon in which she qualified with a Boston standard.  I could feel tears in my eyes and an upwelling of emotion in my chest, almost breathless.  People have told me that I've been an inspiration to them over the past year, and although it was nice of them to say, if they felt what I felt that day, I am speechless.

8.  I joined the most exclusive club in triathlon.  Me and 9 of my friends brought our road bikes to Kona.

9.  At 30, I learned that life is relatively short and no two paths are the same.  I also think the secret of life is to have 50% enjoyment and 50% struggle.  Decide what side of the slide rule you're on.

10.  It's probably worth reading the "Desiderata" by Max Ehrmann, so that one may not get one's head too far up one's derrière.

11.  "Everybody's Free (to wear sunscreen)".  10 leads to 11 (if you paid attention to hit singles in 1998) which is I take sunscreen and sun protection in high regard.  I spent 3 hours in a skin cancer clinic with my family and I was cured of whatever I needed to be cured of.  Of crashes, heart arrhythmia, renal failure or a shark attack, I'm most leery of sun exposure.  And I live in CANADA and take Vitamin D.  Get real and protect yourself.

12.  I love what I do and it makes all the difference in the world.  Although I've had quite a few accomplishments in life - I have really found what I am good at.  And that, would be sport.  It seems simple and it doesn't make me much money (or friends), it certainly doesn't get me ahead in the rat race, but I feel completely fulfilled.  As was written on my grade 8 report card (no embellishment):


"Gillian shows great prowess in sports, but it would serve her well to pay more attention to her studies"


I did what I needed to do, but like salmon in the sea, they always come home.

Then they die?  Ooom-pah!  Not all metaphors work out the way you want them to.

Actually, I think that's an analogy.  Hence the comment on my report card.  I also spent my day getting my butt kicked by my high school english teacher skate skiing today, so it seems fitting that I am getting my butt kicked by grammar as well.  Not that I should tell you this, but I just had to double check how to spell 'grammar'.  Good thing.

I think I should add a disclaimer that *sport may cause low blood sugar, silliness, temporary (?) lowering of IQ and a few other things you never thought you'd do in public*.

I digress.

For all the people out there hoping for their best year yet, I hope you find what you need and I bet it wasn't what you were looking for.  I feel so fulfilled and I am in a state of 'icing on the cake'.  If I was told I had to walk away from it and do something new, I'd have no regrets.  This sense of peace doesn't stop me from being ferociously competitive.  I have more drive, confidence and belief in myself than ever before - teetering on the egotistical, I'm sure.  Never fear though, my ego was handed back to me today when a 7 year old beat me up the hill on skis.  It's all about balance, and the ability to find the humour in it all (I could have picked him up and thrown him in a snowbank).

Stay tuned for exciting news on multiple fronts & a very exciting 2012!

gillian