A New Season Is Here

First day of IronMan training.

4:00 am. Monday the 15th of April. Two weeks ago I turned 32. My birthday was not filled with music, clapping, smiles and the typical picture you would see of a young man in his prime celebrating with his loving wife and newborn baby; excited about the next decade building a family, surrounded by love. Two weeks before this day I had packed up my new little family as we were just starting to make ends meet in Colorado Springs. I announced we were moving so I could accept a dream job with dream pay. But this was not the birthday celebrating accomplishment and stability I anticipated.

On this birthday we were out on the pavement, scouring the sky-high real estate rental market desperately searching for a new place to live and ways to make enough money to eat. The day before we celebrated with cake and a viewing of my favorite childhood movie, Sandlot. My birthday weekend was shaping up to a fine time. We had many great plans. And then the news came, “you’re fired.”

We now had two weeks to vacate the home we were given by the company we left our little world of comfort for. All of a sudden eyes went from security and serenity to survival and fear. We were now spending the weekend running around like Meerkats chased by hyenas. Too much fear in our eyes to make much more than a peep as we dashed around with gas we could no longer afford.

If we found a cheap enough place that was willing to take us in, we would be okay. If we didn’t find a place within 15 days we would be homeless, jobless, and gasping for air. Colorado is not a state that housing comes cheaply and it’s not a place that has housing readily available. Colorado is also not a place that seems to accept dogs on every property- but that is another story.

While driving around I started to wonder what would happen if we got a flat tire. Without explaining the situation that was going on between my ears I told my wife, “you know honey, I believe I’m almost at my snapping point. If one more thing goes wrong I don’t really know if I will be able to make it.” Jess replied cooly, with a sense of collected composure that was almost unsettling, “No you wouldn’t, we depend on you now.”

Well, I think you get my point. This was not the typical birthday that occurs two weeks after accepting a dream job. I was going to be making enough money to provide for my family so my wife didn’t have to work. I had finally made it! And then it vanished with a few words, “you’re fired.”

So why am I up at 4am two weeks later?

Excitement. I can’t wait for the next set of challenges that approach us faster than a train. After I told my wife I was going to snap if one more thing happened, we prayed. We asked God to lead our next steps. We asked him to guide us and teach us to be grateful through this experience. Filled with fear and anger, we desperately begged that he teach us to navigate this challenge without acting on our primal impulses.

And he did.

So later today we move. All of our belongings are once again shoved into a uhaul truck for the third time this year and today I start my training for Iron Man boulder. I was also given a sponsorship to take part in the Boulder Peak Triathlon two weeks before the Boulder Ironman. I have a Coach- Steven Moody- a bad ass Irishmen who is donating his time to support my cause to promote health and wellness through sober living. Over the past two weeks more than a thousand people have expressed gratitude and appreciation towards this mission and interest in the next chapter of this blog. I have received countless personal stories from strangers who have also found triathlon and other endurance activities to be healing. Cancer survivors, violent domestic abuse survivors, childhood sexual trauma victims, drug and alcohol addicts and cancer survivors have all climbed aboard to back the greatest journey I have ever settled into by sharing their stories.

With all this energy it is finally time. God has provided the support, the gratitude, the clarity and the audience. I will now take on one of the hardest tasks I have ever done besides starting the blog. Trials to Triathlon, the manuscript, the book is now being etched onto a separate file. It is as if the universe has just opened the doors and there are guest inside who want to hear more of my story. So I will oblige, but my prayer is not for success. My prayer is simply:

Lord make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
And where there is sadness, joy

O divine master grant that I may
not so much seek to be consoled as to console
to be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love
For it is in giving that we receive
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned
And it's in dying that we are born to eternal life
Amen

I have found that if I enter difficult situations with a prayer that “takes me out of myself” I am filled anew with energy that is more sustainable than that which comes from my own thoughts, ambitions, and desires. On days that I have lost motivation to swim, bike or run- this prayer has lifted me up and given me purpose. I swim, bike and run great distances, daily, not for my own accomplishment but to help promote and raise money for youth who desperately need our help. They need to hear our hope and experience and they need to have the programs available to them so they can learn that addiction is not the end. Anyone can rise above. Anyone can meet the challenges laid before them today and grow rather than crumble. Spreading this is my purpose and my source of energy.

Thank you for helping me reach those who need us!

Donate here for Tri-4-youthsobriety

Mark TurnipseedApril 15, 2019

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