Five Years Ago
Five years ago I was finishing my junior year of college, going to work as a swim coach for the second summer in a row, and generally missing the point of being 21 years old. It turns out that drinking beer and playing FIFA soccer on playstation 2 every night by yourself isn’t the most meaningful existence… who knew?
I’d love to go back and tell myself that I was going to NCAAs the next year, so to work out a little more (1 tenth of a second would have made me a national champion 9 months later; 3 more days in the weight room that summer could have made me 1 tenth of a second faster). I’d love to tell myself that I should start thinking about my career and that I wasn’t going to stay in school forever. I’d love to tell myself that I should start to work on building the life I wanted. I’d love to tell myself to watch out for a trap here, to avoid a mistake there.
But I wouldn’t tell myself any of those things. I’d just let the life I’ve lived play out the way it did. For every wrong turn I made five years ago led me to find a new path that brought me to where I am today. And today I am in a very good place.
Am I as far along as I would like to be in my career? Do I have all the skills I would want to have? No. But I do have a great career ahead of me and plenty of time to make up the gap. I have a loving wife and a deep understanding of myself, neither of which I would have if I’d not made my mistakes in the last few years.
What I can tell myself, the me of five years from now, is that now was the time that I kicked my life into high gear. I took care of the foundation in the last few years, and now it’s time to fly.
See you in five years.
#Trust30 is an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages you to look within and trust yourself. Use this as an opportunity to reflect on your now, and to create direction for your future. 30 prompts from inspiring thought-leaders will guide you on your writing journey.
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