It was a unique opportunity I had in March to travel to Baja and swim with sea lions. I knew it would be amazing and I knew I would learn important lessons. I also knew those lessons might take some time to come about. And what better time to remember swimming with sea lions then after a track workout that didn’t quite go my way. The conditions were perfect but my legs had no pop. I worked hard, but I missed my times. I could dwell on where I came up short and why I came up short or I could take it for what it was and move on. Back at my computer, while waiting for my workouts to download off my Garmin, I scrolled through some photos and founds this one of a friendly sea lion in Baja. He was curious. He was discovering what was around him. He was definitely playful and, well, you can’t be playful without also being a bit joyful. This was how I needed to approach the rest of my day. So I had a “bad” workout. Was it really bad? Or was it just not perfect? What if I was just curious instead of judgmental? What if I replaced my anxiety with joy and playfulness? I’m betting that my productivity would increase and that any “mistakes” would quickly be absorbed to make me stronger and more authentic.