I had a chance to catch up with a good friend from college over coffee today between meetings and his busy foreign travel schedule as a young start-up exec.  We talked about work, home, year-end goals, our health, our relationships, and then shifted gears to talk about the balance of it all.

He talked about the demands of his fast-paced tech-startup and the crazy travel schedule as he forged partnerships and sales channels overseas. I shared my own challenges of growing and scaling a business, demands of home, family, health, and finances. Then we both admitted to being fully & consciously engaged in our work despite the various B/S that we could have lived without, but agreed that we were both happy with everything as it was.

I did mentioned my upcoming ironman race and my increasing level of anxiety about the lack of training due to my work schedule and family demands.  “A real, full, ironman?” he asked. “Yep” – I replied – “16 weeks left and I’m about 6 weeks behind.”  His next comment struck a nerve and stayed with me:

“Damn, that’s tough man. You can’t get that time back” he said.  “Nope, sure can’t” I replied.

We then talked about time for a minute (ironic, I know) and he mentioned his CEO, who’s work ethic made my buddy feel like a borderline slacker (despite his already packed schedule), and about how difficult it must be to spend so much time away from his wife and two kids.

Another nerve struck: can’t get that time back!  

For the rest of the day, as the clock raced forward outpacing my growing to-do list, I forgot the zinger until I sat down with my Mom, Dad, Brother, and my little daughter over dinner later in the evening.  Watching the three Polnar generations at the dinner table, hearing my parents reminisce about the days when my brother and I were little kids, and imagining myself in their shoes as Ellie grew up in front of my eyes…my friend’s comment rushed back with another emotional cord strike.

Indeed, none of us can get that time back!

I shook the thought out of my head by reminding myself that living life without regretful rearview glances requires love, passion, dreams, thoughtfulness, forward facing orientation, and a healthy dose of conscious compromise.

So while life (just like my upcoming Ironman race) requires a lot of preparation, training & practice, I’m choosing to balance the next 16 weeks of training with the demands of equally important life’s moments and people that need me – because in the end – I can’t get that time back!

Thanks for reading,

Roman (aka Smiley Runner)

 

 

PS…the deck is done! Last Saturday consisted of 8 more hours of sanding and staining, that left me utterly exhausted and perfectly satisfied! And if you are able, please consider helping our chosen charity as we raise funds for kids living in poverty – please click HERE and thanks again.