Michael & Liz are Bloggable

I have always said that I would never get a tattoo. And for anyone who just gasped from surprise, don't worry, I still don't have one. Not to say that I think it's a bad decision, it's just mainly because I think in most cases I would immediately regret it. I can just see myself sitting there at age 60 looking at the tattoo thinking, "why did I tattoo that on myself?". I happened to come across this article on one of the Bengals players named Rey Maualuga who recently got a big tattoo on his side that says "Never regret anything because at one point it was exactly what you wanted...". I thought the statement was ironic because the chance of "regret" is the reason why I've never been interested in getting one.

It got me thinking, is there any situation where I would get a tattoo? I think there is. It would have to occur as the result of an extremely significant accomplishment in my life. More specifically, an accomplishment that is a test of will and stamina far beyond the normal bounds of achievement. What do I mean by that? If you asked me 5 years ago if a marathon was significant enough, I would have absolutely said "yes". But now that I've done 3 and plan on doing 4, I just don't see it as difficult or significant enough. Don't get me wrong it's hard and awesome to do one, but when you finish a race involving several thousand people, it really diminishes the achievement a little bit. The only 2 realistic accomplishments I can think of at this point that I would deem worthy enough of a tattoo is if I were to compete in an Ironman competition or complete an ultra marathon. Of course there are others like climbing Mount Everest or Mount McKinley, but nothing I can say that I'd ever aspire to accomplish.

An Ironman is 140 miles of swimming, biking, and running. An ultra marathon is any race of a distance longer than a marathon(26.2 miles). So why does it take an accomplishment of that magnitude to get a tattoo?

• I feel like the chances of regret would be much smaller if I'm tattooing something about the past.
• The chances of regret would also be small if it's about a significant accomplishment.
  
• It's definitely meaningful and something I'd want to be reminded of on a daily basis.
• On that note, it would remind me of what I can do if I put the same time and effort into every task.
  
• It can never be taken away from you. Nothing about that achievement will ever be different.
  

If I were ever to complete either of those goals, a tattoo might have to happen. Will I ever, I'd like to think so? But that's really why they're so significant, because you never know.