Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Alignment & Balance

It's been just over a month since I announced my commitment to making this year's Ironman adventure a much more personal and meaningful cause. I'm in the early days both in terms of workouts and fundraising.  On the latter - and most important part of this work - I've not been idle.  I've been using my social media platforms as best I can, sending out directed e-mails to my contacts (with more to come, so be afraid, be very afraid) and working with a lot of my other contacts in this cause to see what we can achieve in memory of Ronan Smyth and to support the powerful work of the Kids With Cancer Society.

It's obvious that Ironman is composed of multiple disciplines - swimming, biking and running.  What we might forget is that there is so much more than what you might see as these triathletes run, walk or crawl past you on the course :) There are at least two more disciplines that I would add into this mix - the nutrition plan and the mental discipline required, both in the lead-up to the race and as you take yourself through the day of the event. To be truly successful, all these elements have to be in alignment.  

What's the parallel to the work of the Kids with Cancer Society and honoring the memory of Ronan Smyth?  I'd actually like to think there is a lot of resonance between the two seemingly disparate realities.  Alignment is a word that quickly comes to mind.  As I have started to become more immersed and aware of the challenges that the Smyth family faced and went through - and that far to many other other kids and families have to go through - it's clear that there is so much to manage and so many disciplines to be engaged with.  How to manage and coordinate medical care; how to be attentive to the slightest changes in physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of your child; how to stay attuned to the needs of other members of your family; how to keep the realities of living going while your life is overtaken by a tragic diagnosis and weeks, months and maybe more of care to your loved one; and, how to keep yourself sane and healthy in this whole process.  

And that's where the other strong parallel between my Ironman adventure and Ronan's journey comes into focus.  While cancer resides in the body of one person and Ironman is a singular athletic pursuit, nothing is achieved - not cure, not comfort, nor finish line - without the commitment and efforts of a team.  As I re-engaged the goal of completing another Ironman, it was reinforced - with 3 kids in the clan when there were only 2 much younger children in our family in 2011 - that I need the tolerance if not support of my family unit.  The time it takes to even now, in the early days of training, to building a base of fitness requires a LOT OF SUPPORT from my family.  Right now this means 1 to 2 hours of workout almost every day which equates to dad being out of the family loop.  That means mom carries more of the burden and/or kids needing to be more self-managed.  By the time summer rolls around we start to talk about 20+ hours of training and weekends largely consumed by long rides and runs. 

Understanding and watching the experience that Ronan and his family went through takes that level of support and commitment to a whole new level.  While the challenge of living through the diagnosis with Ronan fell most strongly on his family, the level of support and commitment that came to the fore - and I hope continues to be there - from extended family, friends, community and even complete strangers was amazing.  Even with that support there can be no doubt that the challenges were, at times, overwhelming.  The reality is that other families continue to go through this every day in Alberta and beyond.  

So in memory of Ronan and to help other kids and their families dealing with a cancer diagnosis, I'm asking you to become part of their extended team.  Let's get aligned and let's help them find some balance in this challenging time.

If you can't donate directly I would ask that you share this blog and this donation challenge with your network.  This is too an important an issue to be standing on the sidelines. The link to my challenge is:

Home - Greg Hadubiak Cops for Cancer Ironteam (akaraisin.com)

Thank you.  Let's compete hard!