It’s not a quest unless you might lose your life.

Let’s be honest…if you don’t get fit you probably won’t lose your life…right away anyway. If you jump out of that airplane you probably won’t lose your life…at least statistically the odds are in your favor. If you climb Everest you probably won’t lose your life…not in this day and age unless someone really screws something up. All of these things carry some measure of risk, I grant you but are they going to kill you? Physically I would expect to continue on this corporeal plane after any of these activities.

And I would expect to die after each one.

Yes you read that right. I would expect to die. I would not only expect to die I would be trying to pierce my heart with a blade and pour my life’s blood out. I would commit murder upon the person I am.

If I choose my quest correctly I am going to kill the person who chose that quest. The person who chose to jump, climb, or dedicate themselves must die in order for me to become the new person who has attempted the quest. Just the very act of setting out will cut the throat of who I was so that I may become who I will be. The quest is not an incubator. The quest is not a cocoon. The quest is not a benign easy process. The quest is an active, homicidal activity designed to put you in a crucible of change.

So are you willing to put who you are to the test? Are you willing to step, like the explorers of yore, into the unknown abyss where monsters and incredible creatures may lie in waiting to devour you? Are you willing to walk through the fires of change to discover who you may become?

I am giving you permission to kill the person you are in order to become the person you want to be. I am giving you permission to go on a quest to find that person.

Let’s launch your ship on a Homeric hero’s journey. Get on board or get left behind! It’s never too late to be who you were meant to be.

John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com