Written by David Mackenzie-Kong
What is an athlete? An athlete comes in every shape, size, race, creed and age. What makes an athlete is a person’s determination to succeed. The goal to succeed as an athlete is how one pursues the positive fulfilment of one’s heart. We aren’t far from becoming an ultimate athlete; it’s something we already know how to do.
When the word athlete is mentioned we often have this Nike image of a tanned, slim, rock hard man or woman who is dripping with sweat after a super human workout. The truth is, an athlete is not just your ultra marathoner, hockey player or triathlete it can be somebody as unsuspecting as your Grandmother. It is the people who fill a gym in January trying to start that New Years resolution or the slower paced elderly person who walks at the break of dawn. The point is, they get up and move themselves into that kinetic dynamic. They are taking action with a willingness to move beyond their known comfort zone. The drive that these people have and share with the Nike gods, is that they have a determination to get up and move.
We are beautiful and successful individuals who have the courage to conquer. Often our ability to envision our success is fogged by personal delusions, leaving us vulnerable for failure. I like to refer to success as an achievement of an objective or a goal, but to succeed we need determination. The description of determination is; “the act of coming to a decision or of fixing or settling a purpose”.
Determination to compassionately understand how we function at an intellectual, spiritual and physical level will soon lead us to the achievement of our objectives and goals. All athletes go through a journey of “who they are” but continue this journey throughout their career. One way to compassionately understand ourselves, is to positively fulfill the needs of the heart.
When I mention fulfilment of the heart I am not referring to abstaining from meat, dairy and fats I mean what pertains to giving a person purpose. We often ask ourselves what is our purpose in life and what am I supposed to do with my life. For some it’s easy, but for a large percentage of people it is not. My feeling is once we find that kinetic physical state of being we will find the answer to what our life purpose is. Since we have applied compassionate determination to understand ourselves and have begun to achieve objectives and goals, we therefore have found fulfilment of the heart.
We are amazing individuals who are capable of many things. We don’t have to search every mountaintop or find a Guru to figure out how to be that ultimate athlete; all we have to do is love ourselves enough to engage that strength to move towards physical health. We are never far from becoming an ultimate athlete, it is something we already know how to do.
I’m a Vegan Urban Athlete with an eye for film. I believe, we should have a greater compassion for ourselves so we can truly have compassion for others.
David can be found on Twitter @davidjkong
Wonderful article David. Really enjoyed this.
I like this take on the concept of an athlete. I really never thought about it but you are right. Determination to succeed….Love it!