When it Hurts

There are days when it hurts. When it feels like you are lifting a mountain just to get out of bed. When getting under the bar to lift or putting on your running shoes takes more effort than your hardest workout. When even getting ready to work on that project is a Herculean effort. 

These are the days when it is the most important to do all of the things, to crush the challenges. On these days, don't fight the pain. Don't hide from it. Don't try to pretend it doesn't exist. Lean into it. Embrace it. 

Just to be clear, I'm not telling you to ignore your mental or physical health just to go the gym or work. If you have a medical problem, see to it so you CAN fight the pain that you SHOULD be handling yourself. You wouldn't run a race with a broken leg, don't tackle your life without your health in order.

But those times aren't what this is about, and you and I both know that. We know the difference between a medical need and the "I don't want to" pain.

That pain that is trying to tell you to stop. That pain that is trying to tell you to give up when it hurts. To let heartbreak, sadness, depression, loss, and all of the other things life does to us make you quit. That pain that is trying to say that you don't have what it takes.

These are the moments to dig in, to tell the pain no. These are the most important times to get under the bar, to crank on that project, to do whatever it is that you know you should be doing that day. If you honestly don't know what to do, I have some suggestions. 

But chances are, you do know. And there's good news: After you do it at your worst, it's easy mode by comparison to do it on a good or even decent day. When you've pushed through the pain, anger, unfairness, and everything else life has thrown at you and STILL gotten that win, you'll wonder why you ever had trouble doing it without all of it trying to get in the way.

There are going to be days when it hurts. Very few things in life are guaranteed, but this is something I can promise you with absolute certainty. It's going to hurt at some point. So don't go in thinking you're going to avoid it. The day will come when you have to do it when you're tired, when it hurts, and when you don't want to. But also promise you that that is the day when it is the most important by far to dig in and do it.