Martin Luther King, Jr.'
To struggle. Quick ~ What's the first word that popped into your head?
Be honest...
or better yet, what was your inner reaction to the statement. Did your adrenalin kick in? Did you think "My life is a struggle." or did you think about your workout? or maybe what you had for lunch?
I think it's an interesting idea to question our position and use of the struggles in our lives.
If you lived through and survived any sort of troubled or abusive past, you know something about struggle.
If you grew up in poverty, you know something of struggle.
If you come from an emotional parental void, you know something about struggle.
If you face anorexia or bulimia, you know something about struggle.
Since I joined the CrossFit community - I have begun to look at struggle through a totally different lens.
" The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work. ~Harry Golden "
This picture makes me smile. So often we roll over and pretend the struggle isn't there ~ and what do we miss out on because of it?
Before CrossFit, I was not comfortable with struggle of any kind in my life. I didn't like it. I didn't accept it. And I certainly didn't want you to tell me that it was 'just a part of life.' I wasn't interested in your philosophical dissertation of the reason my life currently sucked, and I certainly wasn't going to let you ruin my little poor me pity party I had going.
I didn't like struggle. Simple as that, and I intended to sit in my corner and pout about that, thank you very much.
Somewhere during this time frame, I found boxing. Right away I was drawn to as well as envied the dedication and determination I saw in those athletes. I was fascinated by their ability to face struggle and then fight their way through to the other side.
(Now I'm a really determined lady once I set my mind to something, and at the time... boxing seemed to be it. I was at the gym all the time, I watched all the videos, I worked as hard as I knew how, I talked about it all the time and I tried desperately to fit in.)
But something wasn't right. Something didn't click. Maybe it wasn't the right time in my life, and there's some real truth to that statement. But maybe I just wasn't ready.
I believe those are two very different things.
Maybe I wasn't ready to face that required struggle with the knowledge that I would make it through to the other side? Maybe I wasn't sure I could win that fight?
And maybe, just the struggle itself was more than I was ready to take on.
What are you facing in your life right now, that has you convinced you can't make it through to the other side, because the struggle is too great?
Could I have been something great in boxing? Maybe. I'd like to think so. But you have to want the struggle. I wasn't ready for that struggle, and therefore didn't want it bad enough to succeed.
What are you holding back from, because you're not quite sure you want the struggle? And what's the difference between 'not the right time and not ready' and 'not willing to face a necessary struggle?'
Is it your marriage? Is the WOD that you chose to stay home to avoid? Is it that conversation you know needs to happen, but won't be pleasant and might not resolve itself? Is it letting go of something you're addicted too? Or picking up a habit that seems to far fetched to even imagine?
I think at some point, we could all answer yes to most of these questions.
But I can encourage you, that although even just last year I could have answered yes to all those questions........ today - my perspective has become very different. (name that movie and you get 10 points)
Are the struggles still there? Oh yeah. It's life, right?
But I want to tell you that your perspective can and will shape your life.
Ouch. Wanna read that again?
Cause' I'd like to say it again.
Your perspective can and will shape your life.
Some times it's a matter of timing. Sometimes it's a matter of desire. And sometimes it's simply a matter of fear.
That's the one I think we need to focus on.
Am I letting my fear of the struggle, keep me from succeeding and overcoming it?
If so - I challenge you to set that one aside. The one you're afraid of..... Go ahead and set it apart from the others that are simply a matter of timing or desire. And then set out to succeed at it.
Don't set it aside on a shelf where you hope to forget about it. Don't put it out to pasture and hope it wanders over to become your neighbors problem. Don't shove it to the back of your closet and then quietly move it into the yard sale bag.
I challenge you to let it surface. I challenge you to take a closer look at it.
For me, the first challenge was my eating. I already loved to work out, but I am and always will be a southern belle at heart who loves to have a party just so I can cook for you, so I wasn't about to give up my comfort foods! I was also struggling with depression and mood swings, so forget giving up my breads and chocolates - I'd rather die than do that. I was content to sit back and continue to complain about how nothing was changing, and how awful I felt, and how I couldn't lose weight, and yada yada yada. You know the drill.
The second challenge was changing my workout. Being brave enough to withdraw from the boxing and then being honest enough to say I just didn't have the time - which later translated into I don't want this struggle right now. (Hang on now.... Hear me on something. There's a whole lotta' healthy in backing away from things, just so you know. Just because you signed up, doesn't mean you have to finish if it's not what's growing you forward.)
Finding CrossFit and the community behind it, during a time when I thought I had lost everything - has honestly taught me to face my struggles head on.
Do I still get nervous when I stand in front of the white board and wonder if I have what it takes to complete this workout? Yep. Every single time.
Do I still wonder if I have the fight in me to compete against myself day after day after day? Yes.
Do I still fight sugar cravings and that desire to fill the emotional void with the food I wish would fix it? Every day.
But what I don't do anymore, is allow those 'fears' to take over. I acknowledge them, sometimes I sit with them quite a while, and then I answer them with truth.
And that truth is that 'I am more than a conqueror through him who loves me.' Rom.8:37
But no matter what your spiritual stand, the truth is the same for you. You and your perspective can conqueror this fear. You and your determination, once set, are unstoppable.
Stop making excuses.
And start making changes.
'Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.
C. S. Lewis '
We have no right to ask when sorrow comes, "Why did this happen to me?" unless we ask the same question for every moment of happiness that comes our way. ~Author Unknown
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