Same Ol' Me.
Every time you go on Facebook, you see a notification that someone has changed their profile picture. Maybe it's a significant moment in their lives that they are commemorating. Maybe it's a cause they're supporting. Maybe they just felt like changing their picture to something else.
My picture hasn't changed. I'm boring like that. A little lazy. Satisfied with the status quo. The reality is that I just like the picture.
It reminds me of a certain time in my life. It was taken by my wife during the Tour of Fairbanks downtown criterium after my race was over. This was the big-show year for the ToF, with an announcer, stage, and Saul Raisin as the race marshal. I was watching the fast guys race over the bumpy course, dodging the random transient who wandered out in front of the pack. This was taken before Alex Loan went down in a corner and the ambulance came.
Back then I could still carry my daughter around on my shoulders without budging a disc. Not that she's anything but rail thin today, but I'm older and more broken down. She was playing with the couple of days worth of stubble on my face, a habit now passed down to my youngest.
Five years doesn't seem like that long ago on one hand, but it's an eternity on the other. Lots have things have happened since then. Perspectives and priorities have changed. Fitness and weight have come and gone.
Still, when I look in the eyes of that guy, I still see me. I'm a little stringier and leathery, but it's still me. I look at pictures from 15 years ago, and I don't identify with that guy as much. He was a guy in transition, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do with his life. The guy in the profile picture seems more settled. It could be the contentment of a post-race endorphin rush, the relief surviving the crit with both teeth and GC aspirations intact, or the all-consuming bundle of awesomeness perched on his shoulders, but that guy I identify with.
The jersey may change. The hair may recede. The wrinkles around my eyes may deepen.
I'm still the same ol' me.
My picture hasn't changed. I'm boring like that. A little lazy. Satisfied with the status quo. The reality is that I just like the picture.
Back then I could still carry my daughter around on my shoulders without budging a disc. Not that she's anything but rail thin today, but I'm older and more broken down. She was playing with the couple of days worth of stubble on my face, a habit now passed down to my youngest.
Five years doesn't seem like that long ago on one hand, but it's an eternity on the other. Lots have things have happened since then. Perspectives and priorities have changed. Fitness and weight have come and gone.
Still, when I look in the eyes of that guy, I still see me. I'm a little stringier and leathery, but it's still me. I look at pictures from 15 years ago, and I don't identify with that guy as much. He was a guy in transition, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do with his life. The guy in the profile picture seems more settled. It could be the contentment of a post-race endorphin rush, the relief surviving the crit with both teeth and GC aspirations intact, or the all-consuming bundle of awesomeness perched on his shoulders, but that guy I identify with.
The jersey may change. The hair may recede. The wrinkles around my eyes may deepen.
I'm still the same ol' me.
Comments
Post a Comment