Once you begin, you are.

​Several years ago, I had a kid who had been working for me as a youth counselor. When he left that position he told me he was going to medical school. He was going to be a doctor. He asked me if I'd write him a recommendation to support his application.

I gladly wrote him one. Some time later he told me he hadn't been accepted. After hearing that doing some service might boost his chances, he joined the Peace Corps and served as a health volunteer in the Amazon jungle of Ecuador - (While serving there he met his wife).

When he returned, he asked me to write another recommendation. I did. His application was once again turned down.

He began pursuing his masters degree in public health. He didn't want to sit still and hoped that doing so would boost his chances of getting into medical school.

A year or so later, he asked me to write another recommendation. I did. This time he got in.

I always admired that dude's willingness to just begin. He felt called to be a doctor. He also refused to sit around waiting for the calling to show up at his front door and drag him into the Colorado family medical center where he serves as a doctor today.

And when he was delivered a setback - he began again.

You know, in many ways running has changed my life. One of the important lessons it's taught me is an important order of things in life.

I wasn't a runner. I went for a run. I was a runner.

Running didn't show up and tap me on the head with a pair of Brooks running shoes and make me suddenly an anointed runner. I had to begin. And today, albeit far from elite, I am a runner.

Most mornings I show up here to write - because I want to be a writer. Writing in the morning is a tangible reminder that once I begin, I am. Writing is a way of asking myself out loud each morning, who do I want to be today? What must I begin to be him?

A new day has begun. With it comes your chance to begin. The most beautiful part about that is once you begin - you are.

There's power in that. Every single day you have a chance to change who you are.

That can sound overwhelming until you remember the order of things. Begin. Then you are.

Just begin.