What hurts?
I ran ten miles this morning. I didn’t want to do it. I’m training for a marathon. There are many more miles to run in the coming months, but for some reason, from the moment I woke up, my whole being kicked against the idea of running.
Eventually, I coaxed myself out the door to warm up and stretch, and started a slow jog. “The first mile always sucks,” I said to myself during the first mile. As I faced a steep hill during the second mile, it felt like my entire self was about to mutiny for making it run. At that moment, I realized, “It’s not my entire being that doesn’t want to run. Just a few parts.”
I started piecing things together. “The part of me that wants to be fit is fine going on this run,” I thought to myself. “My mind is getting some nice alone time on this run. Even my cardio feels fine right now. So what is it?”
I identified the culprit. My left calf felt a little sore. That was it. It wasn’t even injured, it was just a little tight. My left calf was staging a coup, and had recruited the rest of my being. Once I called out the left calf as feeling a little sore, it lost all of its power. The rest of my being dropped their pitchforks.
I just needed to encourage my left calf, and thank it for bearing the brunt of the pain. The rest of my being was happy and benefitting from the rough time my calf was having.
This blog is different from my usual topics, but I chose to write it because it felt connected to a few ideas we’ve discussed before. Naming names can help us defeat mental barriers. This felt similar. Maybe you’re feeling overwhelmed by a large, dark mountain in front of you. Maybe it feels like your entire being is kicking against it. But maybe, it’s just something specific you need to work out and encourage. Maybe it’s just something specific and small within you.
