As we wind down 2020 and look ahead towards 2021, a few things crossed my path the past week that made me do some thinking.

A chance encounter with a friend made me realize that people see me as, “that triathlon guy.” There are certainly worse things. I couldn’t help but wonder what people must have thought of me before I started training. And though I don’t necessarily ascribe to dwelling on what people think of me, it is somewhat a legacy issue of sorts. I’d rather be seen as something other than “that beer drinking guy who reminisces about sports all the time.” And “the guy that does Ironman races,” seems like a much better moniker.

Another chance encounter came when I heard a phrase from a book called The Black Swan, by Nassim Taleb. I read this book a while back, but I didn’t recall this lesson. It said, “Collect opportunities, and don’t chase trains.” I had absolutely no idea what it meant by “chasing trains.” But I listened. It made me think of how many things in my past haunt me. Regrets? Maybe. Things that bother me? Things that make me wonder… what if that didn’t happen the way it did?

It’s all “chasing trains,” and it’s counterproductive. Take responsibility for the choices you’ve made – whether they seemed like the right choice at the time, or whether luck seemed to go against you. It was your choice. You only get one life… learn from the past, yes. But don’t dwell. Move forward. Be productive. My New Year’s Resolution special will be out next week.