“In The Warrior’s Code, There’s No Surrender; Though His Body Says Stop His Spirit Cries, NEVER!”
“Burning Heart” – Survivor
No matter what your reason for taking an active role in your fitness, and I’ve often said there are many, one of the things you need to remember is that you have nothing to prove to anybody other than yourself. Whether your preferred method of training is competitive or singular, team-based or opponent-based, the only real opponent you’ll ever be facing is yourself.
I’ve recently been reading Ronda Rousey’s book My Fight/Your Fight. If you haven’t picked it up, I highly recommend it. Although most famously known for being a pioneer in the world of UFC, she’s had a lifetime of experiences before that, and her book dives into many of the rudimentary reasons behind why we train so hard.
One of the things she brings up, and I’m paraphrasing here, is that if you fight yourself, who wins and who loses? The way I interpreted her words, she meant it mostly as a way of self-reflection and never demanding anything less than the absolute best of yourself. You want to compete in a fight tournament and win first place? Accept nothing less. Want to lose a few pounds and get into better shape? Allow yourself nothing less. Want to train for that next black belt degree even if it’s been ten years and you need to relearn some things from scratch? Okay, I’m making it personal… Time to move on.
“Our Greatest Glory Is Not In Falling, But Rising Every Time We Fall.”
Rocky Balboa
The bottom line, is that you need to push yourself to accept nothing but the absolute best from yourself. Not only should that be your only goal in life, it’s the LEAST you deserve. Others will get in the way; that much is guaranteed. People will be haters in the face of your success; that much is promised. But as long as you do one added push-up, run one minute faster or push yourself that little more, every time you work out, you’ll be guaranteed to succeed. ☯
The Blogging Buddhist 