The Gift of a Goal. The Gift of Disappointment.

More and more, I believe that life is a choice—of utmost importance, our perspectives.

A simple—albeit hard to implement—hack that has helped lead me here: “What is the gift of [insert anything]?”

It’s funny to think about old me who used to cringe at the constantly upbeat, rose-colored glasses folks.

Am I becoming one of those?

If so, I sure do love it…

…and life is a lot more fun…

…and a lot easier.

Around 2010, a swimming goal emerged:

Can I break 5-minutes in the 500 yard freestyle?

20 lengths of the pool.

Each length done at exactly 15 seconds or faster.

In 2012, at the age of 32, I came close: 5:00.51.

Close, but no…

And, I guess, here’s the gift of a goal:

This silly little goal, that is so meaningless in the big scheme of things, has kept me coming back to the pool…

…day after day…

…week after week…

…month after month…

…and year after year.

It’s always there.

And I love it.

It has brought so much to my life.

Since September 2024, I’ve made a darn good push toward this goal.

Through a wonderful friend—Sue Mohn—I found a swim group—FoxJets—and a coach—Dave Cameron—to move me forward.

Over the past 19 months, I’ve found consistency…

…community…

…and joy.

On April 11, 2025—my last practice—I was primed to give this goal a go at the Minnesota Masters State Swim meet.

Here’s the thing, though—you have to play by the rules.

And I didn’t.

Fully tapered and ready to go, I made a blunder and forgot to register for the event, which closed on Thursday, April 10, 2025 at 11:59pm.

On Friday, April 11, shortly after my last practice before the race, I realized this—and immediately emailed the race director:

“Hi Reed, everything has been seeded and posted so I can’t get you in the meet.”

The shame.

The sadness.

The disappointment.

Wow.

What a blunder on my part.

I sure can be a klutz sometimes!

But, here’s the thing.

This goal has been such a gift to me.

I don’t know if I’ll ever achieve it, but it sure has kept me going—day in and day out—for 15 years.

What a gift…

…to have something to work toward…

…to have something that puts me around a community…

…to have an outlet that brings me so much joy.

The disappointment.

Oh, what a gift!

I get another year of my life engaged in an activity that completely fills my cup…

…that gives me something to work toward…

…that puts me around a community…

…that brings me so much joy.

Perspectives are powerful.

Life is a choice.

Onward.