The elegance of persistence through hardship

This approach certainly wouldn’t always resonate with me, but, within the context of a very challenging Sunday morning spin class, the cues that the teacher projected through her microphone really worked for me yesterday….

“What do you do when the ride gets harder and still harder?

You just keep going. You just do it and get through it any way you can.”

Her words were exactly what I needed to hear in that moment to inspire me to dig deeper and reignite the motivation – not only from my tired muscles – but from my willpower, dedication, and desire to finish what I came for….and not only just finish, but finish with flying colors.

Is there an aspect of your life that’s feeling hard, and maybe even getting harder before it’s getting easier? Or perhaps you’re going through a phase that’s challenging you, squeezing you in ways that has you wondering if things are ever going to turn a corner, if you’re ever going to get a leg up, and break through to some higher ground.

The thing is, that higher ground you’re seeking and waiting for but never getting to is actually the very thing you need and have the capacity to cultivate within yourself….just as I did on my bike yesterday.

I’m definitely not always so hard core in my approach to suggest to myself or anyone else, “Just get through it any way you can.”

The higher ground starts with remembering that, on some level, you’re choosing the experience you’re having, because the experience you’re having is determined by your perception and thoughts about it, which are always 100% within your control.

And then, the exploration can evolve into….

“What would the most powerful, invincible version of myself do in this situation?”

“How would SHE get through this challenge and difficulty, that has me desperate for relief, in the most graceful, elegant, masterful way that is actually aligned with the very quality of the outcome I desire? And, not only get through it but become so much more in the process?”

These are the kinds of questions that turn me on and that make life way more pleasurable than it might otherwise be.