We Haven’t Lost Ourselves
Lately, I’ve been reflecting on something I see in many of the people I meet.
At first, I thought people were losing themselves.
The more I sat with that thought, the more I realized I don’t believe that’s true.
I don’t think we’ve lost ourselves.
I think we’ve simply lost touch with ourselves.
There is a difference.
Somewhere along the way, many of us became so busy responding to life that we gradually stopped listening to it.
The days became fuller.
The pace became faster.
The noise became louder.
Without realizing it, we started measuring our lives by how much we accomplished instead of how deeply we experienced them.
I’ve caught myself doing exactly the same thing.
There are days when I move from one responsibility to the next and suddenly realize I haven’t really noticed the morning. I haven’t heard the birds. I haven’t felt the breeze. I haven’t paused long enough to simply breathe.
Nothing terrible has happened.
I’ve just drifted away from myself.
Over the years, I’ve discovered that coming back rarely requires some dramatic change.
It usually begins with something wonderfully simple.
A slower breath.
A quiet walk.
Watching sunlight move through the trees.
Standing beside the ocean without needing it to do anything except be the ocean.
Laughing with a client.
Playing soccer with Kanani before the day begins.
Those moments don’t solve every challenge.
They remind me of something I never want to forget.
Life isn’t asking us to become someone else.
It’s inviting us to become more fully ourselves.
After more than five decades of coaching, studying, and continuing to learn from my own successes and failures, I’ve come to believe that sustainable performance isn’t really about performing at all.
It’s about living in a way that allows us to feel strong, peaceful, curious, connected, and fully alive.
The world will probably continue moving fast.
There will always be more information, more opinions, more reasons to hurry.
That isn’t likely to change.
What can change is the relationship we have with ourselves.
Perhaps that’s where every meaningful journey begins.
Not by searching for something we’ve lost.
By remembering something that has been patiently waiting within us all along.
With aloha,
Michael Holland, MS
Founder, Comprehensive Athletic Training
Sustainable Recovery → Sustainable Performance → Sustainable Living