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“Mind over Matter”

“It’s mind over matter.”
That’s how I recently described running, long distance running, and particularly marathon running. I said this on live TV and truly do believe it. 

Really, this pertains to most, if not all, physical challenges or goals. I’ve written much about this, focus highly on the mental aspect as I know that as humans this is where we struggle most.

Our mental state or ability to control our mind is really the biggest aspect to achieving amazing things in life. Your body will tell itself it’s done much sooner than it reaches anywhere close to done. The mind protects ourselves from pain, that’s how the body works.

One of the greatest aspects of running, or endurance activities, is being able to confront the little person inside who wants to quit. When you are struggling the most to continue on, learning how to talk ourselves through that physical pain threshold is exactly where greatness starts to happen. 

Everyone hits those spots, EVERYONE. The “I can’t run another minute” spot. Doesn’t matter how seasoned you are, you will hit that wall. That spot where your body has given up and your mind is now the only thing in charge. That is really where you truly learn what you’re capable of. This lesson of capability, when pushed a couple times, begins to engulf your life. You begin to realize your capabilities aren’t what you’ve always told yourself they were, it begins to spread around other aspects of life, and you begin to truly see opportunity in what always appeared like a wall or closed door.

That person inside you, defeating that person inside is one of the most rewarding aspects to physical activity. Trust me, it’s not the outside physical aspect you should be excited about when exercising and becoming fit. It’s the inside lessons you’re learning and how to really capture the best within yourself. 

That stuff is incredible and nobody can take that away from you, nor can they see it. It’s simply you battling it out with yourself, winning the mental game, and truly putting “mind over matter”.


DadBud

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