First 5 Minutes..

It's an opportunity to take those who have been affected by spinal cord injury surfing for the day. As you can imagine, it's extremely powerful and, if you allow it, will completely shapeshift your perspective on what you are doing with your life. "DelMo" is but a small cog in the machine of this glorious day.

Toward the end of the day, I had a conversation with a loyal DelMo athlete who was supporting his longtime friend who, through an accident, is in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. We were talking about the upcoming Atlantic City Triathlon and how the event began with a simple phone call, which led to a meeting, which led to our first triathlon in Atlantic City in 2011, which led to Challenge Atlantic City, and ultimately, Ironman 70.3 Atlantic City.

They asked how signups were going, and I stated this was the best year since 2019. We then chatted about the challenges all of us faced over the past six years and what it took to get to this point.

My buddy, who is a senior C-level executive at a Fortune 500 company, then said this: "The people who work for me ask me, 'How do I get my training in? How do I find the motivation to keep challenging myself?'"

Then, he gave the simplest answer:

"I make certain I get through the first 5 minutes when I wake up. I put my feet on the floor, and I get to the coffee machine. From there, I own the morning."

"...get through the first 5 minutes."

Even the most accomplished executives struggle with that first wake-up. However, it's all in how you look at things. We realized that every adaptive athlete who was relying on volunteers to help them ride waves for ONE DAY a summer would give anything to be able to wake up, with very little sleep, place their feet on the floor, and go for a run, a bike, or a swim on their own.

Think about that for a moment.

The little things we take for granted are an impossibility for others, and yet there are those who do not use the gifts the Gods have given them...because they're tired, or sad, or just "not feeling it today."

We're human. I get it. We've all been there. However, it is our responsibility to not live in the dark space of our minds and to get through those first 5 minutes.

-DELMO