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I’ve got a quick message for you (2min read time) to show you that what you have overcome in your life has prepared you to achieve your next level of life.
After observing O Sensei, the founder of Aikido, sparring with an accomplished fighter, a young student said to the master, “You never lose your balance. What is the secret?”
“You are wrong,” replied O Sensei. “I am constantly losing my balance. My skill lies in my ability to regain it.”
Walking up Lions Head Mountain in Cape Town recently I reflected on the very first few times I made the ascent at the start of my weight-loss journey in late 2011.
At my level of fitness, I whimpered as I dragged my aching body up the evil sand road. The first 15-minute climb is like a slap in the face. A smoker at the time, my throat burned as much as my calves ached. There were some tears and for the first few times, I could not appreciate the view. It was hell. A slightly prettier hell. In those days I even lit a smoke at the top (cringe).
My brain was on fire with questions of what the F&$@k I was doing to myself. I felt like an imposter and a loser. My discomfort level was in the red. I constantly wanted to quit. But I wanted to beat my discomfort of being fat more.
Years later, even when I am not cardio-fit it is a relatively easy and pleasurable climb for me.
We all have challenges in life that we overcome. At first, they seem impossible, then they become tolerable and eventually even easy.
But like I read somewhere, “The man at the top of the mountain did not fall there”.
Think about a time in your life when you overcame a challenge. What was that challenge?
Maybe that was finishing varsity. Running a marathon. Giving birth. Or trying a new activity that scared you. (Scuba or Sky diving, anyone? – I have done both!)
Recall how hard that challenge was. How uncomfortable you felt. How you wanted to give up 1000 times.
Now think about the person you became afterwards.
I asked the community about what health and fitness goals they had achieved which they never thought they could. Read their responses in our Facebook Group over here and feel free to share your own.
What did overcoming that challenge teach you about your own resilience?
Thanks to that challenge, you’re stronger, wiser, and more experienced. Above all, you can point to that challenge and say: “I survived that. I did that. I rock!”
I promise you. If you can do that you CAN certainly do what it takes to get in shape!
We need discomfort in order to reach our next level of life.
Without pain, we’d stay the same forever and never reach new capabilities.
In order to lose fat, sometimes you’ll be a bit hungry. In order to transform your body, sometimes you’ll be a little uncomfortable. It’s just a part of the journey.
In order to achieve your goals, you may have to become someone you have never been to before.
Cheers,
Elan (get to know me better over here)
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