It’s six am and your hand can’t make it to the alarm clock fast enough before the voices in your head start telling you that its too early, too cold, and too dark to get out of bed. Aching muscles lie still in rebellion pretending not to hear your brain commanding them to move. A legion of voices are shouting their permission for you to hit the snooze button and go back to dream land. But you didn’t ask their opinion. The one voice you’re listening to is a voice of defiance. The voice that says there is a reason you set that alarm in the first place. So sit up, put your feet on the floor and don’t look back, because we’ve got work to do. Welcome to the grind.
For what is each day but a series of conflicts between what is the right way and the easy way. Ten thousand streams fan out like a river delta before you, each promising a path of least resistance. Thing is you’re headed up stream, and when you make that choice and decide to turn your back on what is comfortable and safe and what some would call common sense, well thats day one. From there it only gets tougher. So make sure this is something you want, because the easy way will always be there. Ready to wash you away. All you have to do is pick up your feet.
But you aren’t going to are you? With each step comes the decision to take another. You’re on your way now, but this is no time to dwell on how far you’ve come. You’re in a fight with an opponent you can’t see, oh but you can feel him on your heels can’t you, feel him breathing down your neck. You know what that is, thats you, your fears your doubts your insecurities - all lined up like a firing squad ready to shoot you out of the sky. But don’t lose heart, because while they’re not easily defeated they are far from invincible. Remember this is the grind the battle royal between you and your mind, your body and the devil on your shoulder telling you this is a game, this is a waste of time, your opponents are stronger than you. Drown out the voices of uncertainty with the sound of your own heartbeat. Burn away your self-doubt with a fire lit beneath you. Remember what we’re fighting for and never forget that momentum is a cruel mistress. She can turn on a dime with the smallest mistake. And she is ever searching for the weakness in your armor, that one tiny thing you forgot to prepare for. So as long as the devil is in the details, the question remains is that all you got? Are you sure?
When the answer is yes, and you’ve done all you can to prepare yourself for battle, then its time to go forth and boldly face your enemy - the enemy within.
Only now you must take that fight in the open, into hostile territory. You’re a lion in a field of lions all facing the same elusive prey, with a desperate starvation that says victory is the only thing that can keep you alive. So believe that voice that says you can, you can run a little faster you can throw a little harder and for you the laws of physics are merely a suggestion.
Luck is the last dying wish of those who believe winning can happen by accident, sweat is for those who know its a choice. So decide now, because destiny waits for no man. So when your time comes and a thousand different voices are trying to tell you you’re not ready for it, listen to that one lone voice of decent that says you are ready, you are prepared, its all up to you now.
jacobvanloon
origamiaround
tangentwithtanner