Hey guys, it’s time for Monday Motivation! I design Monday Motivation to help you start your week off right and to assist you in pushing away those negative thoughts.
So, I love to run! I mean, I LOVE IT. But I find as I’m getting older that it is getting harder and harder but still, I push myself do it. Why do I continue to push myself? Well, because I love it, running makes me feel alive, healthy and capable and I love escaping to the good old out doors.
Where I live, we are surrounded by mountains which is great for me because trail running is my favorite.
A few weeks ago I got up at 6:00am as I often do, tied the laces on my brand new running shoes, (the best thing in the whole world) and headed toward a mountain trail not far from my house.
Usually I love the feeling of my muscles straining and burning as I fight my way up the mountain, but today, I felt off. The run felt much more difficult than it usually does and I found my mind fighting with my body. “We should just call it a day and turn around,” my thoughts said. “This is much too hard.”
But my body said,”I’ve done this before, and I can do it again.”
My mind whispered,”You’re getting too old for this,” but my body said,”but I love this. I don’t want to give up just yet.”
This argument went on for awhile and the entire time I fought to keep going forward. But my lungs were burning, my heart felt like it was going to explode and my mouth felt dry.
half way up the mountain, I stopped and looked out at the valley. I felt my blood pulsing through my body and looked around for a place to sit.
Just as I was about a give up, turn around and just head back down the mountain a little voice whispered, “keep going. You deserve to show yourself that you can do hard things.”
Needless to say, I kept going and as I was about 100 feet from the top I began to feel my mind catch up with my body.
As I took those final steps to the top, I stopped, watched the sun rise and whispered,”You go girl. You can do hard things, ” to myself.
I once heard someone say that they were kayaking a river with a child. The child kept asking if they could stop and the parent kept responding, “but the finish line might be just around the other bend.” So on they went, paddling away, muscles burning and sun beating down.
Again and again, the son asked to stop. Again, the parent repeated, “Don’t stop. Don’t quit. The finish line could be just around the next bend.
Finally the child had enough and started paddling toward shore. As he sat on the beach waiting for the parent to finish, the parent went on and found the finish line around the very next bend.
There are things in my life I’ve been working toward for years and there have been times I want to give up. Either my mind tells my body that it can’t take any more or my heart doesn’t feel like it can break one more time. But what if what I’ve been working for is just around the next bend. What if the top of my mountain is only a few steps away.
I can do hard things! I love myself enough to push through and achieve what I was born to achieve… and I hope you do to!
Happy Monday Motivation. Keep on going and push through hard things. There’s a beautiful view at the top!
