Sometimes it can take awhile for appreciation deep down to set in.
In November 2016 four weeks before a trip of the lifetime sailing 1,000 miles from the southern tip of Argentina to Antarctica for an adventure race I sprained my ankle.
What I may not have appreciated at the time is how much I filled up the resiliency bucket.
The most I could manage was running a total of 20 minutes prior to leaving to run 200KM + in deep snow and ice.
I did, however, do some of the best rehab of my life in the 10 days after the injury. I also controlled what I could control and was laser-focused on staying in shape and pushing mentally through barriers every minute of every day.
I don’t know if it’s fully sunk in 18 months later what that Antarctica trip will mean to me 20 years from now.
What I learned walking through Antarctica is that life is a gift. I appreciated every sunrise, and sunset every glimmer of an iceberg and every crackle of falling ice into the Ocean.
I grew more in the month prior to departing, on the 2.5-day voyage there and week competing than I had all year.
Just like you only see the 10 percent of the iceberg above the water line, there is a depth of experience, anxiety, and resiliency that lives underneath the surface.
What do you want to look back on 20 years from now and see as your gift?
Colin
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