When I started this blog, I started it to detail my story in becoming an Ironman. I try to keep most of my personal life, personal and just keep it to racing. However this has become my outlet and at times I must use it for just that. This week I got news that I had lost three people in my life in the course of about four days. Two of which lost a hard fought battle with cancer and one of which lost their battle with depression. It is always hard to hear of these things but three in the matter of time that passed rocked my world.
Unfortunately this is not the first time my world has been rocked by the loss of a young life to suicide. Before I started my journey to Ironman, I lost a great friend to the same thing. When I learned of this, I began to relive this nightmare all over again. I felt all of the same emotions, sickness and anxiety that I felt only a few short years ago. It was hard, it put me down and I didn't even want to come out of my room let alone my house on Monday. There are a lot of things I carry with me from day to day from the first time I was ever impacted by this disease. I never thought sitting in high school health classes that my life would be affected by this disease, let alone twice.
Through all of this I have been told something that I have heard a million times and something that I did not really want to hear at this moment.... "Focus on the good." It seemed like everything was right on track and then it spun off so fast. I had a job lined up, I had everything going right and them boom, It felt like I ran into a wall. There were complications with the job and that sent me into a tailspin. I have goals that I want to accomplish and a time line that I need to follow in order to reach those goals. Knowing that I could possibly not have a full time job and having to cover bills makes me anxious about getting a new bike in order to reach my ultimate dream of becoming an Ironman among so many other things.
Yet I had so many people telling me to focus on the good. Well this morning I decided to do just that, focus on the good and forget about the rest. I have a great time at my part time job right now, I am helping people and inspiring people to better their lives, I am having an amazing summer, the list goes on. Yes I hit some road bumps but I cannot let them derail the things that I am focused on. I truly believe that I am being tested in order to make the victories taste even sweeter. I am also making new goals. In order to reach my goal I have started a Go Fund Me account in order to help offset some of the cost for my bike. This is a dream that I have shared with so many people and I know that it is something that I cannot do alone. I ask that if you read this and feel compelled to help please help in anyway that you can, whether it be a donation or just sharing my story for other people to learn about it. I know I have the support of so many people and I can't thank you all enough, you have been simply amazing and any little thing that you can do to help me will be so greatly appreciated.
Marathon training has started here, looking at races for next year and so many other plans. I can't thank everyone enough for their support a long this journey. The messages and praise I receive daily are so rewarding and I thank you all so much. I wish that I could meet every person who has touched my life and give them a hug, I like hugs.
Until the next time, thank you for everything that all of you do and please keep it up, I appreciate it more than you could ever imagine.
All for now
Keep FSU and Do It For Yourself
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