What is the Why?

Recently I've read a couple of books based in Buddhism -- the Deepak Chopra tome "The Book of Secrets" and W. Timothy Gallwey's classic "The Inner Game of Tennis." They both talk a whole lot about living in the moment and being one with the universe. The past is past, so bury it and move on. The future is a mystery and not worth the energy. So be here now. Far as I'm concerned, truer words were never spoken.

Furthermore, Buddhism is rooted in finding everything you need within yourself. The love we all possess is enough to sustain us for a lifetime and comes from within.

I take that to mean the competitive fire burns within each of us. We always can do better, go further, go faster, be greater. To me the challenge gets no greater than the Hawaii Ironman, between the frothing ocean and the unforgiving lava fields, the heat radiating off the pavement and the fact that anybody who's anybody in the world of triathlon does this race.

Then again, that's not why I'm here. I'm here because of me. And if that comes off as selfish, so be it. This is something I want to do, and I'm not letting anything stand in my way.