I consider gratitude a superpower.
Starting my day with gratitude has changed the way I look at the problems in front of me. It doesn’t make the problems disappear or make difficult things easier. It changes my perspective.
Instead of immediately seeing a problem as something negative, I can see it as another opportunity to overcome something, learn, and become better.
Gratitude also helps me stay present.
I think sometimes we are so focused on where we are trying to go that we forget to appreciate where we are right now. We are always chasing the next goal, the next accomplishment, the next thing we need to fix.
Then one day, the moments we were rushing through become memories.
Some will be good memories. Some will be difficult ones. But all of them are part of the journey.
Right now, I am finishing my preparation for one of the toughest tournaments I may have entered in my career.
When I look back at the last ten weeks, I feel a lot of gratitude.
It has been a hard training camp. There have been difficult training sessions, days when my body was tired, and moments when I had to keep pushing.
At the same time, there has been much more happening in my life than competition.
I can finish a difficult training session and then walk into a company meeting where we are making decisions that could affect the future of everything we are building across TFI.
Then I get to step back onto the mats and spend time with a community of people who inspire me to continue evolving, not only as a competitor, but in every area of my life.
I am grateful that my body still allows me to perform at a high level every day.
I am grateful for the people I get to train with.
I am grateful for the team I get to build alongside.
And I am grateful that what we are working toward is bigger than my competition career.
Competition will eventually end. Medals will become memories.
But what we are building with TFI has the opportunity to continue long after I stop competing and, hopefully, impact thousands of people’s lives.
So as I prepare to step into another difficult challenge, I don’t want to rush past this part of my life trying to get to the result.
I want to appreciate the hard days.
The training.
The meetings.
The people.
The opportunity.
All of it.
Because one day, these moments will be memories too.
And I am grateful that I get to live them now.
