I’ve been riding my motorcycle in to work every day since I got back from the Virgin Islands. Well, I drove the car the first day back. But since then, it’s been motorcycle city for me.
It’s hard. I ride about an hour each way. And those who ride motorcycles know that it’s a full body experience. Your muscles are engaged the entire time to some degree.
Your mind is engaged too. Much more than when you drive a car, you are on pretty high alert on a motorcycle.
It takes a lot of mental and physical effort.
So up until now, I’ve been doing a day or two on the bike and taking the car when I could come up with a good excuse to drive. I needed to make a call, I have to get some things from the store, etc.
But this week, I decided to not only face the struggle, but embrace it.
This morning was particularly tough. I was tired and still dealing with some bumps and bruises from sparring and other things. I didn’t really want to ride in. I wanted to take the car. My wife even pushed me to take the car.
But I realized that the more I choose hard times when I have the capacity to push myself through it, the better prepared I am to get through the tough times when I don’t have the choice.
By embracing the struggle, I don’t just hold my breath and wait it out, hoping it will pass before I pass out. I use it to become stronger and grow in the struggle. I become better.
When I have to go through something that I don’t get to choose, I am bigger and stronger and more capable than I was before my chosen struggles.
I can’t imagine having to take on a challenge as my older, weaker self.
Don’t do this to your future self. Don’t put your future self at a disadvantage because right now you want to pull the covers up and lay in a nice warm bed.
Face your struggle and embrace it. So that in this life hard times fear YOU.
