Living the Dream

A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.

-Francois Auguste Rene' Chateaubriand
 
That quote does a pretty good job summing up my existence as of late. Now, I would not be so bold to call myself a master of anything. I am not. If you consider yourself a master then you stand a good chance of falling into the trap of complacency. When that happens the pursuit of excellence comes to a screeching halt.
 
Rather, this quote for me sums up what happens when you are able to pursue your passion. The line between work and play becomes very fuzzy, almost non-existent. I have had the good fortune these past three years to be the sport director for The Hagens Berman Cycling Team. 2012 will be my fourth with the team. I have also started to expand my knowledge base by partaking in a number of coaching seminars in the past 12 months and toying with the idea of doing some coaching beyond the four athletes I currently work with. Prior to that I was was a climbing instructor/guide for over a decade.
 
The main take away is that I have been able to cobble together an income and live a life pursuing my passions. Am I getting rich off of it? No. Has it always been easy? No. Would I be able to do it without a partner of over 16 years who has always been supportive? No (and a big thank you to her for that). But what I am doing doesn't feel like work. And for that I am grateful because I really am living the dream.