A buddy of mine is a climber. He tells me that when you’re mountain climbing you get a lot of “false summits”. These are times when you think you are on the last leg of the climb. You can see the ridge, and you feel your strength is just about to give out. Then the unthinkable happens: You reach the “top” and realize that the next leg is MUCH further away. You only thought it was the peak because your angle of vision was blocked by the mountain. Now you have to martial your strength again and keep pushing on.
I could not imagine a better picture of life, accomplishment and getting into the shape you want to be in.
Here’s another way to look at it: years ago when a person would go on a long journey, it would sometimes be called a “pilgrimage”. A pilgrimage is not a trip; a trip is traveling to somewhere close. A pilgrimage from America to the Far East would mean crossing an ocean, two continents, and facing hundreds of unexpected things. The person would have to be resolute in his determination to get to his destination because the obstacles he must face were too many to plan for. This journey would have to be about more than the destination – it would have to be about the distance in-between. More importantly, the obstacles along the way were expected rather than unexpected. The blockades are part of the process – the process to make him a better person, making the goal all the greater.
Our workouts are all about NOT GIVING UP. I don’t think most people realize how important it is to cultivate this kind of attitude. Getting it is not free! It is very costly. Why is it so important? One day you will be beginning a long journey or standing at a false summit – seeing that you have 5 to 10 times further to go than you ever imagined. I assure you it will happen and whatever you have cultivated up to that point will be there to help you.
So as you look back down the mountain, realize how far you’ve come and how much blood, tears and sweat it took to get there. Say a prayer, dig in and consider this:
I could not imagine a better picture of life, accomplishment and getting into the shape you want to be in.
Here’s another way to look at it: years ago when a person would go on a long journey, it would sometimes be called a “pilgrimage”. A pilgrimage is not a trip; a trip is traveling to somewhere close. A pilgrimage from America to the Far East would mean crossing an ocean, two continents, and facing hundreds of unexpected things. The person would have to be resolute in his determination to get to his destination because the obstacles he must face were too many to plan for. This journey would have to be about more than the destination – it would have to be about the distance in-between. More importantly, the obstacles along the way were expected rather than unexpected. The blockades are part of the process – the process to make him a better person, making the goal all the greater.
Our workouts are all about NOT GIVING UP. I don’t think most people realize how important it is to cultivate this kind of attitude. Getting it is not free! It is very costly. Why is it so important? One day you will be beginning a long journey or standing at a false summit – seeing that you have 5 to 10 times further to go than you ever imagined. I assure you it will happen and whatever you have cultivated up to that point will be there to help you.
So as you look back down the mountain, realize how far you’ve come and how much blood, tears and sweat it took to get there. Say a prayer, dig in and consider this:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt
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