I follow Dwayne Johnson on Instagram. I've always liked him. I gravitate toward people who take what they do seriously, but they don't take themselves seriously.
In one of his recent posts, he said, "find your anchor".
I never thought about that before.
What does "find your anchor" mean? To me, it's the people and places and things that keep me balanced.
For me, "find your anchor" is much deeper than a support network which is important but probably includes a dietitian, massage therapist, people you train with (like masters or some running groups)...a group that you probably don't necessarily share you deepest thoughts with.
It's who or what keep me balance; keep me rooted. It's where I go to be who I am at my core.
When it comes to people, these are the people who like me for who I am, not for who I know or how much money I have, not because of what I've done. These are the people who accept my flawesome.....all my flaws and all my awesome.
Mr. Tea and Coach Liz are my anchors. They are probably the only two people who can give me unsolicited feedback that I will heed....or at least take note of until I'm ready to hear it.
I have close friends that....geez....I don't even know how to describe them. They're my anchors.
Since my tri season ended, I've had a few weeks (here and there) where I was off from training. I would simply go in to TP and tell Liz that I want this week or that week off.
That's when I realized that riding my bike is my anchor. I rode my bike every day when I had those weeks off. When Mr. Tea was at his worst and I had to be at his beck and call, you'd find me in the basement riding my bike. Now, I'm on a run focus. I miss my bike, horribly. I'm still riding 3 days per week, but I miss my bike on the other 4 days.
That simple, little phrase, "find your anchor" was a reminder that I have a place or people that allow me to drop the walls and just be me.