Dewachen Catherine Ilg (7) laying down the wood against a bunch of older boys (and girls) enroute to a 2nd Place finish in the 13-and-under category in the Pagosa Duathlon on Saturday – a race in which i once won and was stoked to nab a 2nd Place Overall on Saturday several years after my Championship. Read Dewa’s hilariously empowering story about this pic on my personal Facebook page! pic by ilg.
If you want to win the Human Race? you gotta stay focused on Enlightenment. You’ve been graced this Human Incarnation from your countless lives of competing since you did what it took to split the cell…don’t give up your Practice, drive deep into your weaknesses and develop wholeness because wholeness is the foundation of Enlightenment.
a Facebook friend saw the above pic of Dewa and commented something like, “Your daughter is just like you; a machine!”
i had to breathe and relax. that comment, intended as a loving act, seemed to be yet another ignorant barb in the long wire of what i’ve tried so hard for so long to convey through my lifework. “my daugther” for one, is not ‘mine.’ she – like you, me, all of us – our children of the Divine Source. sure, Dewa came THROUGH Joy and myself for reasons and karma unable to convey but she is not ‘mine” or Joys. and certainly…she is not a “machine” and i pr(om)ise you, i am far from a robotic like contraption. unlike machines, i have deep feelings of inadequacy, fears, anxiety, and doubt like you would not believe. unlike a machine i still battle feelings of low self-esteem. even when my face was splashed on covers of magazines i sheepishly looked away from the magazine racks fearing someone might recognize me…same thing in bookstores whereupon someone might recognize me from one of my books. Machines don’t do that.
Not machines; Dewa and Daddy stoked to show our 2-fingers symbolizing our mutual 2nd Places at the Pagosa Duathlon on Saturday.
Machines don’t rebound from paralysis or overcome speaking impediments or any other number of Human Racing inflictions and sufferings along the highly improbable Path of Lifetimes toward Enlightenment.
In the past 3 days i raced 3 different sports and gained 3 podiums while being a Daddy. those last 4 words being the most telling part of why i feel so sacredly happy with my efforts. On Thursday, my unwillingness to crumble on the wet gravel roads of Texas Creek secured me a 3rd Place standing in the DWC Championships with 4 races remaining. On Saturday, i finished 2nd in the 3-mile Run before railing to a 2nd place finish in the 8-mile Mountain Bike. i had only been on my mountain bike 3x and the tricky, rocky, and technical sections of the singletrack had my, uh, well, FULL attention. in 2011 i crashed on this course hard…a 4th career crash on my right hip on top of a previously paralyzed spine…if you don’t think that weighs on your mind, well…you must be a machine.
ilg is not.
neither is my daughter.
nor are you.
we are Divine Beings, learning the Human Lessons enroute to the highest podium of all; Enlightenment.
Blessed be they Sweat and thy Silence. Don’t give up. Dewa doesn’t. i don’t.
Onward, Upward…and endlessly Inward until Enlightenment…
These teachings are the "Rasas" or "sap" of Wholistic Fitness. You’ll find insights to ponder, student chi to keep your own chi topped off, and plenty of proven training techniques to test on your own body, mind, and spirit! Also, you’ll find my very popular Race Reports, and news of our Sangha’s (community’s) latest transpersonal fitness adventures!