As they say in the Good Life, holy motherforking shirtballs, this is good. When I first heard the concept, I was concerned this’d be a barrage of couch-to-5.5 W/kg stories. But no, it is so much more than that. Even this early into it, there were three episodes with remarkable individuals, including the latest with @CarlyZoe. A minute or so in you notice she uses past tense when she is talking about her husband, which sent chills down my spine. The episode about the triathlete with dwarfism Zach Josie was inspired and inspiring. Such a humble person who overcomes the odds with a calm persistence, not being deterred by setbacks. And of course the episode about the father (@summerson) who trained to be able to donate one of his kidneys to his son. It’s inspiring to see that such impressive individuals are part of our little community.
And kudos to @Jonathan for leading the interviews with so much empathy and compassion.
Agreed. The theme that appeals to me in all three is that their objectives and motives are not about numbers or notice. Rather, its about meeting their potential in a more abstract way. Carly Zoe said as much when she declared we learn what is possible when the effort is not about us, when one is called to step up and gladly does so. But I believe it requires a selfless motive to even open that door. Whether we observe an effort specifically directed, such as the father to the son, or whether we are challenged and made better simply by seeing what another does innately, simply to meet life’s challenges, in all cases the benefit found in the example always accrues to others. People like this are rarely found thinking only about themselves. You’ll never encounter a sense of being entitled to anything. They consider this behavior logical and normal.
Thank you to all three for the examples and for allowing others to look “behind the scenes”.
What I found very interesting was the open discussion with @CarlyZoe about balancing the needs of others with your own. To a degree we are always doing that. If I spend more time on the trainer, I will have less time with my family. On the other hand, my daughter sees me training very often and I hope I teach her by example that sports is good for you and you can get far when you just apply yourself consistently over a long period of time. This is but a triviality compared to being responsible for the needs of someone who is terminally ill.
So much this. I didn’t notice when we were actually recording my episode, but when I watched the video I could see it all over @Jonathan’s face. He really feels what you’re saying. It makes him an excellent host for this podcast. I love every episode I’ve heard so far.
Haven’t listened to Carly’s yet because I have to mentally prepare myself for that. I understand what it’s like to train for someone else and I know that episode is going to be gut wrenching. The blog post was hard enough to read.
It is also clear from listening to it that he was really, really prepared, because while @Jonathan seemed to never cut off his interview partner, he kept the conversation on track (for the lack of a better term). I’m sure your stories contained so many more twists and turns that are important, but impossible to all include in a podcast — and perhaps some people don’t want to have included in the podcast.
I also had to find the right time to listen to it, because it isn’t exactly easy listening. That’s also why I am usually in arrears when it comes to this particular podcast.
This is exactly what I was hoping people would pull from my time on the podcast! I know my story isn’t exactly commonplace, but I was hoping it could be relatable to anyone with multiple responsibilities (i.e. every human ever).
@summerson, I hope it wasn’t as hard of listening as expected. I tried to keep things fairly light for a topic that is, I know, heavy overall. By the way, I loved listening to your podcast; hearing you talk about training for your son was what inspired me to reach out to be on in the first place! So thanks for starting things out on such a good note.
This is such a good way of stating it. I think a big thing for me, too, is that everyone has this trait. I tried to make the point that, before Austin got sick, I never would’ve known I was capable of caring for someone like that. I think people are capable of so much more than they know, and it’s only in being tested (either by external factors, as in my case; or internal factors, like driving yourself to become a better cyclist) that your strength/potential shows. There is so much positive reinforcement in this, too, and is something that can be applied in pretty much every aspect of life.