"The golden opportunity you are seeking is in yourself. It is not in your environment, it is not in luck or chance, or the help of others; it is in yourself alone."– Orison Sweet Marden
“Age Has Nothing to Do with It” is a book about people who push their limits by participating in thrilling and incredible activities that include paddling in Outrigger canoes in dangerous and extreme ocean conditions, running insanely lengthy distances, riding horseback in rugged mountainous terrains. Their stories are about the unbelievable or impossible. These people put themselves into amazingly difficult and outlandish situations. Maybe you too can become inspirational and change and transform your life. Marden’s quote fits.
As you know, I’ve been thinking about competitiveness. Okay, what are the differences or the degree of difference in competitiveness? Likely, we are all competitive to some degree. In thinking about sports, there seems to be differences. Is it the sports themselves that account for the differences or is it the people that are drawn to the sports? We all know that Tiger Woods is competitive as well as Lance Armstrong. Is each of these men equally competitive? Of course, Tiger is still competing while Lance is in the downside direction as far as the Tour de France. One might assume, that Tiger is more competitive because he still competing as a professional athlete. However, it may or may not be true.
What about comparing Tiger with Michelle Wei a female golfer? They’re both professionals, both outstanding, but one is male and one is female. Are there sex differences as far as competitiveness is concerned? Another comparison could be between Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods. What about age differences as far as competitiveness is concerned?
As you can tell, I’m raising questions or hypotheses about competitiveness. Today, Tony and I ran on the trail for about 10 miles. Tony told me a little bit about his competitiveness. He attempted to tell me that he didn’t have to come in first. I’ll tell you little story. We were about a mile and a half from the creek crossing and Tony told me he needed to stop and take care of personal business. He told me not to wait but to go ahead. So, I continued my pace. I wondered if he would catch me. At about 400 yards to go, I looked behind to see if he was near. I didn’t see him and I increased my pace. I got to the stream crossing and began to stretch. Within moments, arrives Tony huffing and puffing. You be the judge between what Tony said and his behavior. It’s usually his behavior that speaks loudly.
Tony also told me about his competitiveness at work. He took more calls and fixed things at a faster rate than his comrades. For Tony, it’s apparent that he is competitive with his running and at his work.
More about David Zabriskie and what he eats with his vegan menu. His post race includes: white rice with maple syrup and cinnamon, a vegan protein shake, two bottles of special team recovery protein drink, and goji berries. I would like to interview David after the tour and get his comments about competitiveness with his menu change. Then of course,to interview him five years from now would also be interesting. Then we have a better idea as to who is David Zabriskie.
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