The Desert of Arizona
Sunny 56 Degrees
Since today is Monday, I’m dealing with my customary bumps, bruises and soreness from getting thrown on the mat about 30 or 40 times yesterday in martial arts.
The compressions with an eskrima stick leave the clearest memories… and the biggest black and blue marks. (You can see an example here. That’s the teacher I study with.) Imagine various parts of your body getting stuck in a super human vice grip and you’re on the right track.
My wife wonders why I subject myself to pain like that. I can’t really explain why I ever started. But it’s clear to me why I continue.
Because each time I go, I get to walk up right to the edge of my comfort zone and then walk (sometimes I trip, sometimes I get thrown!) right over that edge into new territory.
And in that moment is when you feel alive.
The Jason that walked into that 3 years ago is not the same Jason that’s sitting here today.
When you look back, growth looks like it happened in the blink of an eye. When you’re in the middle of it, often times it can feel like hell 🙂 You might get beaten down, you might face obstacle after obstacle, you might even think you’re staring right into a brick wall with no obvious way forward.
That’s growth in slow motion happening right before your eyes.
The way you can appreciate it is to turn your head and glance back into your past for just a moment. Look how far you’ve come. Use that to propel you forward.
There IS no where to go but forward. But it’s up to you which type of mindset you carry on your journey.
Are you going to complain about all the obstacles in your way? Or are you going to fill yourself with gratitude for the lessons they bring?