My journey as a Hercules

I have come to view the athletic journey as the convergence of three roads. First is the simple physical path, through the sports at the community club, school teams and my continued involvement with the specialized sport clubs. That's where I was prepared for the challenges at the higher level, where I have learned the techniques and trained the muscles to respond, quickly and in perfect harmony, to the call of the mind, and even most importantly to the call of imagination. Improvisation, not a routine response, is what separates a master athlete from a good athlete.
The road of that physical journey led me through the ranks of the club, provincial, national and international level challenges, and has intertwined very often with the second road. They are inevitable linked. For the second road was the emotional path, the growth I have come to find in understanding and appreciation, not only of what I desire to be and to have, but of the needs of others, and the acceptance that their way of looking at the world may not coincide with my own. My second road started in confusion, the world made little sense to my views. But by progressing through the steps of this road, I learned that there was indeed truth in what I knew in my heart to be true. In doing so I have come to appreciate so many people, cultures and various view points. From each I have learned. I have learned to judge from the actions and from the heart, and that was such a freeing experience for me that I could not help but accept the philosophy and embrace it.
Now, after all of these adventurous years, I have come to understand that there is a third road. For a long time, I thought it an extension of the previous roads, but now I view this path as independent. It is a subtle distinction, perhaps, but not so in importance. It lay somewhat dormant for me for many years, buried beneath the demands of day to day life and my own understanding that the other two paths had to be sorted before the door to this third could be truly open. The awareness road, is a path more of mystery then of experience, more of questions that of answers, more of faith and hope than of realization. It is the path that requires the shortest steps, but is surely the most difficult, at least at first. It is not so clear a way, and I fear that for many it never becomes so. For myself, I know that I am on the right path, but not because I have found the answers. I know my way is true because I have found the questions, specifically how, why, and where. The study of sport science, the understanding of the relationships between neural, hormonal, muscular and mechanical factors is central to all human performance. To take a slightly different approach, to form my own concepts, or to advance my understanding of the subject, is such a rewarding and motivating experience. Achieving your best, does it happen by a course of natural occurrences, or the design of a creator, or are they one and the same? Is there a pattern, or is it all pure chance and randomness? These are questions that can only be answered to me by insightful knowledge and understaning. That, of course, is my hope.