Challenges - We all have them

Amor Fati - Not merely to bear what is necessary...but love it. 

Look, I talk a lot about success, often about past failures, about lessons learned, and try to put the positive mind in front of all else. As much as you spin life, try to over-positive it, or self-talk, it doesn’t make bad days, weeks, months, years, or moments disappear nor does it make them any less existent or relevant.

We all have stuff. Stuff that tries to hold you back, drive you down, put a mountain in front of where you want to go, or make you want to quit to take the easy route. 

I have stuff, I’d say I probably have a couple days a week I question “why go for the run or to yoga”, “why get off the couch”, “How am I going to make this work”. Some days I do it and others I don’t. It doesn’t mean I’m done for, tomorrow is the start of a new day and hopefully a refresh/restart of the mind.

It’s tough though, I get it.

Everyone has something. There is always something you are fighting with in your mind or physically, something that tries to negatively take over.....you need to know this. If you have something so does the person next to you, so does the guy across the gym, so does the Instagram star. Some of these things are worse than others, however it doesn’t mean less in the eye of the beholder. It’s a struggle nonetheless and needs to be conditioned as is. 

What works for me is openness, vulnerability, going right at these, and writing. I need to attack them, not only with positivity, but with an acceptance of the weakness or struggle and a willingness to reflect on how I got there. If I manage to accept it, I feel I manage to control it and can then rationally figure out solutions. Then comes the motivational music, talks, books, quotes, or whatever I need to remind me of how insignificant some of these issues actually are. How I’m being weak in letting my mind control me and how I got this. Sometimes I don’t have it, but I will get it.

I’ll explain further some of my ways of motivating myself here, but for now do what you think works best for that positive frame of mind. Do this only when you worked through the issue, otherwise it’ll creep back up and take over again.

I heard recently that if we close our eyes were 80% more likely to mentally separate from the situation. You want to harness that power from time to time but most of the time keep your eyes open, both literally and figuratively. Pay attention, stay aware and confront those demons. 

I have my struggles, my obstacles to overcome, and ways to get out from putting in the work. I don’t shy away from them or try to tuck them away as if they don’t exist. They exist, are a regular piece of life and everyone has them. 

For the marathon I had challenges: finding the time to train, keeping myself flexible by adding in yoga, battling through an injury or two, having to also worry about fundraising, balancing off family life/career, and a host of other hurdles. I couldn’t have confronted them without a strong support group, my tribe and my “why”. I also couldn’t have confronted them without recognizing they exist and thinking them through, reflecting on how they are going or not going, and then figuring out a solution that works for me and my life.

The world we live in will always throw challenges. You can either accept them to let them win, forget they exist and try to move on, or accept them fully as the natural course of life and figure out how to move past them by going right at them.

Keep your eyes open at all times, embrace the reality, and figure out solutions that work for you. Nobody will have the same solution, we all lead different lives. Different lives means different problems, hurdles, challenges, and solutions. 

Just don’t let your mountains control you.

DadBud