The Importance Of Finding Your Tribe

I know I have written a lot about the fact that I am competing in the London Triathlon and I apologies for the fact that it might seem a little gratuitous. What I have discovered in the writing though has surprised me, not just about my fitness, but about the things that I have discovered about myself and others who are on a similar personal quest.

Tonight was an open water session and there was not a a one of us who, while excited was also a little nervous about hitting the lake and feeling that cold water take your breath away. 

Today though was about after the session. We meet at Denham Lake every Thursday, the place is both beautiful and serene and at the same time rustic and a little rough around the edges. The thing that I realised tonight though, was that we had become a Tribe and in that Tribe we have found a common ground.

In the 38 of us that have signed up for this years event, the age, athletic level and personal goals differ. We have one member of the Tribe who has just completed the Lanzarote Ion Man and then at the other end we have a member of the Tribe who is working on building up to actually being able to complete the 750 swim as the swim leg member of a team. Thing is though, in the club house tonight we also had every level of employee role from the head of the organization to a couple of front line retail employees and everything in between. What struck me was in becoming this Tribe, there was no rank and no talk of work. We were there for other reasons; friendship, commonality, a combined sense of purpose and personal challenge. We were there to support each other and talk openly of triumphs and challenges. We shared a beer. We laughed at our common musings and ribbed each other in jest. But our common sense of being, our identity as a Tribe with a common cause, was apparent.

It makes me think, as we are growing up as children and then on into young adults, do we steer away from what we know is our Tribe because of peer pressure or because of our parents opinions. Our Tribe may not be what we think of as conventional, we may love our work but we may be only truly comfortable at the stamp collectors club or within the Theatre community and maybe then only within the group of unsung heroes who make up the Tech Team. It may be we find our true family as the volunteers who put on Triathlon events and not the ones who participate. What you do is less important than being a part of the Tribe who you do it with. When I lived in America I owned a Jeep Wrangler and every time I drove by another person in a wrangler we waved. It was only wranglers and not other jeeps. But is was being part of that Tribe which made it cool.

What is your Tribe? What is it that makes you feel a sense of belonging? How can we support our children by helping them find their Tribe.

Be Well!