My day begins best when I just get up, lace em' up and go. However, there is enough time to down my coffee and take 5 minutes of silence on my front porch in my rocking chair. It usually involves one of our cats sitting on my lap and enjoying the solitude too. It is habit now and they always find me.
"Get your ass moving Mike."says a little voice in my head. I slip on shoes for my run and pause for a moment at the door.
"Motivation is closing the door and going back to bed"
"DRIVE is opening the door and stepping out into whatever is out there. Rain, snow, heat. It's as bad as you want it to be" says former Navy Seal and Ultra-Runner David Goggins.
Gospel, Dave, Gospel.
Fear dominates so much of our world these days. What if this and what if that? Can't do this can't do that? What will they think of me? What do they think of me? WHAT IF IT HURTS? What if I die?
The wisdom of Rocky said this:
You see, fear is a fighter’s best friend. You know, but it ain’t nothing to be ashamed of. See, fear keeps you sharp, it keeps you awake, you know, it makes you want to survive. You know what I mean? But the thing is, you gotta learn how to control it. All right? ‘Cause fear is like this fire, all right? And it’s burning deep inside.”
There really is no difference when it come to fighting and running. We fight everyday. Against our mind, against our thoughts and our doubts . Against bodies that are aging incrementally each day. We fight to achieve the expectations we have set for ourselves. We fight against a society that encourages competition and sets a bar of elitism determined by how fast we are or what we look like. As if those are the only means to measure performance, guts and desire or acceptance.
We fight because if we don't, we have nothing. No direction or progress. We flounder and fear becomes a raging inferno inside of us, out of control.
You have a choice..
Don't fear the fight and don't fight the fear.
Don't be one dimensional with a one-punch arsenal.
You want to lose weight? Lose it.
You want to run faster, run faster. Get outside instead of on the treadmill.
You want to become a better, stronger runner? Sharpen your mind? Run trails AND track.
Want to see what you are capable of? Run a road marathon. Hard.
Get uncomfortable.
Want to really, really test yourself?
Take fear and run with it. Unleash the fighter within.
Life will not be measured by how many races we have done, how far or how fast we are but rather what we do every day.
Fear is a blessing and a curse.
A blessing to have it because you will know you are alive.
A curse because it will always be there in some form....simmering deep inside us waiting to battle.
What will you choose? Fight or flight?
