Some of Us Do Get to Live Our Dreams

Living the Dream

How many of us would be able to say that we are living our dreams?  

How many of us would be bold enough to state publicly that we were living our dreams even if we believed we were?

Do we just wake up one day and realize that we have finally reached the dream we had for our lives?

Does self-acualization take planning?

Does it take determination?

Does it take hard work?

Trista in competition.

I've been thinking about these questions ever since reading the article that was published in today's newspaper about my step-daughter, Trista Wessely Francis.

Seeing Trista recognized in print made us very happy because she deserves to be admired for all that she has accomplished as an athlete.  

I must say she has made her daddy very proud.  

This girl has always made me happy because of her spunk, and let me tell you, it takes a lot of spunk to do all that she has done.  

I don't want to quote the entire article, I will just give you the link below, and hope you will read about her.

Living the healthy dream: Former Puebloan rises to pinnacle as triathlete, coach

Here are the beginning lines from the article that was so well written by Jeff Letoffsky.  Thank you, Jeff for doing such a great job with your writing on this newspaper article!

As a self-made, world-renowned triathlete and coach, Francis, 41, has reached the pinnacle of her sport and understands where she's come from and where she's going.

  "I feel so blessed. I live the dream every day," said Francis, who lives in Highlands Ranch in Denver. "I get to work with amazing athletes whether they are getting off the couch wanting to get healthier or somebody striving to be an Olympic champion."

Trista, a certified and licensed athletic trainer, got her BS degree in sports medicine at BYU.  She married soon after graduation and began a family.  Once her children where in school, she began running again.  She started running as a child with her father.  Not one to shirk a challenge, she decided to do what it took to become a triathlete.  That meant she had to learn to swim.  Before long, because of her hard work and determination, she was being recognized when she competed.  Then, she started coaching others and started her own company.  And then, she became a member of the Timex Multisport Team, 2009-2012.  

She didn't just dream the dream and wake up one day to see that dream actualized.  It took a lot of training, a lot of early morning workouts; it took focus, and it took even coming back from injuries.   Like her father, she is one to work very hard at whatever she does.  I think she got that work ethic from him.

A few years ago, Trista and her dad went to Upstate New York for a competition. 

Can you tell how proud he is of her? 

Train your mind Train your heart Train your body Jim wearing a shirt from Trista's company iTz Multisport Endurance Coaching, LLC.

I love this photo that Trista's dad caught of her just before the swim portion of the race near Ithaca.

Trista is in the center of the photo.  She has on long sleeves and is wearing a look that says, "I am focused."

The rewards come after the hard work

Here is another photo of a very proud papa.

Jim is watching Trista compete in 2011 Special Triathlon World Championships in China via the web.

She ran where we all watched Olympic runners run in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

I remember he just kept saying, "I'll be."

I'm not sure he could even believe it all.

Jim is proud of Trista for many things.

If the truth be told, he most proud of her as a wife and mother.

She has a truly awesome husband.  We love Greg like a son.

She has three active, sweet, accomplished, and very beautiful daughters.

In this recently taken photo, you see the Francis family on a hike in the mountains near their cabin near Frisco, Colorado.  

They have all reached a pinnacle of success on this hike.  I bet they weren't even winded.

To Trista, I say,

You go girl.

You keep on climbing.

You keep on going after your dreams.

You have a family who loves and supports you.

Life may not always be lived on the mountaintops, but I have no doubt that you will also conquer any valley into which you may enter.

Trista,  Daphnie, Demi, Darby, Greg Summer 2012

I am proud of you.

I love you.

Love,

Sally