This week's Pep Talk: "Continue Steadfastly"

In the pre-dawn darkness of a chilly Colorado spring morning, I approached the gym door and heard music, reggae. It meant a special man was present. I saw him immediately, cherished a warm embrace and whispered, “How ya doing?” His response, as we continued the hug, was sobering: “I’m on the final journey.”

The embrace ended and I headed to another portion of Kinetics Fitness Studio – best gym in America, not for its spa, but its spirit. While working out I noticed my mentor pushing his cancer-ravaged body through its own paces. He has battled a rare form of cancer for as long as I’ve known him, more than seven years.

Tragically, the heavy doses of chemo, meant to keep him alive and cancer at bay, have begun to destroy organs. The clock is ticking. He knows it, everybody around the gym knows it and still he exercises as soothing reggae music plays in the background. The Texas native is usually the first to the gym – even before employees arrive at 5:30am – has his own key and preference for music, reggae.

While rowing, I watched him challenging his body, mind and spirit and noticed my pace had quickened considerably. The former medical industry worker is inspiring: he’s rowed more than 34-million meters – that’s a ton! – is the gym’s official rowing coach, a constant source of encouragement and owns a million-dollar smile. I can remember long ago when told of his cancer. With a big grin, he said, “I have cancer, but cancer doesn’t have me.”

Well, it does now. Life takes us on unexpected, and unwanted, twists and turns. Illnesses strike, relationships dissolve, careers terminate and we’re left wondering, “What the heck is going on around here?” It’s called life and sometimes it sucks. Things cherished, like life itself, are threatened. Rarely do we have the joy of dictating the outcome.

The 62-year-old was still working out upon my departure. I walked into the prevailing dawn drenched in sweat and admiration for Nelson Boyd. Physical time – he admits, “the robe is about to drop” – with loving wife, daughter and devoted gym family is short, but he’ll flourish forever in spirit. There’s a banner in Kinetics proclaiming, the “Boyd Row House.”

Boyd’s a reminder to never quit, especially on our selves. Many things are beyond our control, but we do possess something no one, or nothing, can take from us, we surrender it: perseverance. Defined as, “to continue steadfastly, especially in something difficult or tedious.”

A beloved man continues steadfastly. It’s a great example to face challenges – home, work and elsewhere - with similar perseverance. It’s difficult and tedious for sure, but worth the effort considering the honorable impact delivered upon others wherever we roam - or row.