Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World's Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself

by Rich Roll

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation, and go to the grave with the song still in them.” —HENRY DAVID THOREAU

By 2030, 30 percent of Americans will be diabetic or pre-diabetic. And depression is the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide.

And there’s only one cure for fear. Faith.

“The prize never goes to the fastest guy,” Chris replied. “It goes to the guy who slows down the least.”

Stress + Rest = Progress.

Then I found myself thinking about what Julie had said to me, just before the race started that morning: “Remember, it’s already done. All you have to do now is show up. Stay present. And show us who you really are.”

As Joseph Campbell, mythologist and author of The Hero’s Journey once famously wrote, “One can spend one’s whole life climbing the ladder, only to realize it’s been placed against the wrong wall.”

Service-oriented. This is my personal addition to the criteria (so now it’s “SMARTS”). Although a goal must carry great personal meaning, in my experience, the pursuit of that goal is best served when it is also in service to something beyond the self.

One of the people that elevates me is Guru Singh. A Sikh kundalini yoga master who has become a personal mentor and friend, he analogizes it like this: Imagine a rocket ship on the launchpad. It takes a tremendous amount of force to propel such a vessel from the Earth’s surface to the outer reaches of its gravitational pull. But once in orbit, only the smallest force is required to guide that ship’s trajectory. You are the ship. Those with whom you surround yourself are the thrusters—powerful engines that can either detonate you upon ignition or propel you beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, releasing you with the self-propelling tools and habits required to pursue the interstellar landscape of your dreams. The point is unambiguous—choose your community wisely.

Mood follows action.

Kahlil Gibran. “I slept and I dreamed that life is all joy. I woke and saw that life is all service. I served and I saw that service is joy.”