Challenge Yourself!

Yesterday my body and mind wavered, at least this is how I felt during and after my CrossFit workout. Over the past few weeks since starting my CrossFit journey I have been able to endure and get through every rep and every exercise as prescribed by our coaches, at least until yesterday. It didn’t take long before I reached a point of total exhaustion, looking down from a pushup position I noticed a small pond of my own sweat that had dripped from my nose and forehead to the black rubber matt below me, my arms trembled and my heart was pounding. It is strange what I think of when I push my body to its limits, I can mentally hear my younger brother Ricardo ribbing and taunting me with his famous line “weak sauce”, my good friend and martial arts brother Sr. Master Jorge saying “ Don’t talk about it, be about it”, and my dad’s famous words that he came up with during his long battle with cancer “People who tough it out, who suffer the most, achieve the most”, it is this thought of my dad’s memory and words of wisdom along with being aware of challenges currently facing my best of friends and family that forced me not to give up, to keep moving rather than just lie there and give in prematurely. My dad always told me to always finish what you start and always give 100% of yourself into any endeavor you take on, this endeavor only happened to be twenty minutes in duration but it was more challenging than I expected when I glanced at the board detailing what we were about to do. As I huffed and puffed I thought about what would be the consequence of quitting and I realized that I would be violating the positive work ethic I wish to portray for not only me but also for my martial art students and for my kids, and I would be violating my dads rule of giving 100%. My kids, are great observers of life and have quickly learned that in our household, there is no leniency or tolerance for laziness or lying, part of the methods for them learning this is not only through our words but also through our actions. Granted this is not to say I go all out every hour of every day, but for the most part our relaxation periods are earned and enjoyed when we take them. I continued to ponder until I was awaken from my state by “Don’t think about it Mike, just keep moving” the words that I heard from my X-Fit coach Darrel as I pondered life during this brief moment of pain, his words helped me get through a few more reps but my chest, arms and legs had already given up a few reps prior, but mentally I wasn’t ready to throw in the towel. I will be approaching 45 years old this coming January, I don’t know where the years have gone, mentally I don’t feel any older than my 20 year old self, but my body has been telling me via aches and pains over the last several years that I no longer live in the 20 year old body of yesteryear. It is this thought that really got me thinking about what I needed to do in life to help me live a healthier life and a life worthy of my full potential. The reality of any kind of resolution, action plan or goal setting is that the onus falls upon ourselves; there is no magic pill or short cut for achieving goals that are truly meaningful and challenging. It is in the tools of hard work, grit and dedication that we turn our dreams into plans, and our plans into accomplished goals. The point of this blog is to just add food for thought into people’s minds to think about, our take stalk into what really matters in our lives, for me when I strip away everything else, it’s the health and happiness of my family and friends, it is putting in whatever suffering I have to in order to achieve the most for them, it’s not about winning a trophy or having a six pack again, it is about being the best I can possibly be and making the most of the body and mind God has given me so in the end I can physically be around this earth longer to help others and live a better quality of life. Some of my goals are scary and take courage to accomplish, and I am guilty of not jumping into them for fear of the unknown or failing. I know that for many of us, it is the fear of failure that keeps us from changing our lives for the better or that holds us prisoners to accomplishing all that we can in life. Author Jack Donovan, in his book “The Way of Men”, described courage as the willingness to risk harm in order to benefit oneself or others. I like this description, particularly the idea of being courageous enough to concur our fears for the benefit of others. What challenges in 2017 will require you to be more courageous, will you settle for the same or will you try and push yourself to do more? For me, I am going to commit to spend more time with family, with my friends and to really dedicate more “useful time” to my physical and mental development. I hope 2017 brings with it hope and love for all of us and that everyone at least accomplishes a goal they have thought about or planned for themselves . Don’t despair and remember “People who tough it out, who suffer the most, achieve the most”! Merry Christmas and God Bless