The Privilege

    I don't have a terrible amount of time to write, but for almost a week now I have felt a strong obligation to write something. Earlier this week my good friend Ben Allen was in town, and I let him know that on Tuesday the temperature was supposed to hit 60 degrees and that we should not pass on the opportunity to vault under the sun. The indoor season has begun, so I thought it was a good idea to try jumping from a competition approach (full run, 18 steps, "9 lefts" if you live on the west coast) since I hadn't done so since October. So I threw myself at it with a workout goal of being relaxed and care free regardless of the outcome, no technical goal at all, just emotional. To my surprise, on my second trip down the runway I was off the ground and sailing through the air, an involuntary scream of excitement blast from my lungs as time slowed down and I gently drifted back towards earth from heaven. In that moment I remembered, I remembered everything, the first time I bent a pole, won a meet, stood on a championship podium, the times it was taken away from me and the powerful feeling of wanting it back, all the years of laughter and joy all compiled into a fraction of a second. Pole vault makes me so happy, we are all so blessed to be a part of such an amazing sport. As I departed the pit, and strolled back down the runway, I thought back on all those times I was angry, anxious, and even sad when I was pole vaulting, they seem so strange and foggy, inappropriate and out of place, and I see now just how utterly stupid that is. I try to compare it to something else; like winning the lottery and tearing up the ticket cursing the sky on your bad luck and horrible existence. How is it that we are able to pole vault and not just be grinning ear to ear the whole time? Doesn't seem right, and for me that has changed. From now on, every jump I take is a gift and a privilege,  never again will I let it feel like an obligation or a chore. This is and always will be my most beloved and favorite activity on the planet.

    So next time you 'no-height', have an undesired session outcome, or don't reach a competition goal, smile about it, and laugh because I would bet money you get the privilege to jump again within the week and their are probably billions of people on the planet that wish they could do, what you can do.