Just Go

GO!  I didn't hear much of that growing up, at least not from the right crowd.  Mostly, I heard it from the people who were happy to see me descend down the wrong path. Most people who were closest to me would give me a lot more of the "Slow down" "You're crazy" "What's wrong with you?" whenever I would do something to much out of their norm and I was just to afraid to be different. I came to the realization through years of fighting out of that hole and into myself that men need other men older and wiser to tell them "just go".

In 2013, I did every racing event under the sun, literally.  Spartan Sprint, Spartan Super, Spartan Beast, ThunderRoad Marathon, 2 USMC Mudruns, 2 GRC's, BRR, The NoCo Bear, and a partridge in a pear tree...and I'm sure I'm missing a few.  Given I am the most eligible bachelor in F3, I took this time to focus on challenging who I am from top to bottom, inside and out.  I had a blast.

Throughout that experience, more than a few times I found myself worrying about how the world is going to perceive me if I do to many races.  That fear would some times go as far as to cripple my decision making process almost causing me to miss out on a lot of these experiences. "Slow down" "You're Crazy" "What's wrong with you"....I'd start to question what I was doing...Am I an obstacle racer? A storm chaser? A runner? Wannabe underground Military? WTF?

One week before the Spartan Super in Virgina, I was having this moment. In the span of two weeks, I literally had committed and uncommitted about 6 times concerned that the load was just too much to handle with the BRR looming, cost, time, etc...Very reasonable thinking for sure, however for me, reasonable thinking always ends up in selling myself short, every single time.

A guy I call Dredd is a mentor to me, I don't know why.  He just is and he doesn't ask for anything in return..he or anyone else that I trusted who wanted to invest in me could and I wouldn't care.  In fact, I actually have a long list of men in F3 that I could consider a mentor formal or not.  The week of that race I happen to meet with Dredd and told him my whole song and dance of why I was hesitating so much and why I backed out of the race.  As my story went on and on, he finally looked me in the eyes and said "Go. Just go."  So I went and I ran the Spartan Super in Virginia that weekend.  Regardless of that outcome, which happened to be fantastic.  By that I mean I was able to deepen friendships with some of my closest brothers and accomplish something hard along the way.  That decision was a no-brainer from the start, I just needed the push.  Sounds simple enough, "Just go".  To guys like me and a lot of the younger men I've come to know, it makes all the difference in the world.

In the christian faith, we are given God's grace through deeper faith, not more works.  I say that because the concept of "Just GO" is not a do as many good things as you can hoping for a ticket to the big show kind of thing.  It's the extra push you need keep going, take action, keep walking into the fear you have of finding and doing what you are called to do.  A simple reminder from a trusted friend that the world knows nothing about the man you are inside.  Be that person for somebody.  Do what you have to do to get these brothers around you.  Lock shields with the ones who won't be afraid when it's time to tell you to "Go, just go".