Life doesn’t come easy and sometimes we don’t get to choose how it unfolds. There are going to be times when we wish it was easier. We are going to want the layout to look different. But if you had the choice between the easy and the difficult, which would you pick? None of us are entitled to anything. Some people are luckier than others and there are some things that just aren’t in the cards for me. And that’s ok. Some of us seem to have good things that “magically appear” while others can’t ever seem to get ahead — even one step ahead. Back to my question…which one would you pick? I pick the difficult way. Every time. Why? Because I want the challenge. Today, I road 20 miles on the trails with my husband and I am glad I did. I have never ridden that far before on my bicycle and wasn’t sure if I would slow him down (he routinely rides 20-30 miles several times a week), and wasn’t sure if I could go that far. What went through my mind?
“Is this going to hurt? Yep. Am I going to give up. Nope. Am I going to pay the price of pushing myself later? You bet. Is it worth it? No doubt.”
You see, I work harder when the work is harder. I wasn’t going to shift down to a lesser gear so the strain was less on my knee. When my husband asked me if I needed to stop, I shook my head, “No.” When we challenge ourselves, we push the limits. The limits that we set. If o we stay stuck at those limits once a goal has been reached? We shouldn’t. Goals can be changed and challenges should be adjusted to make us work harder. But people should not be motivated by the results other people meet. All that matters is that you challenge yourself. You sweat. You fall. You make a decision and the result does not end up like you want. You can keep the status quo and that works for a lot of people. But not me. I have to see what I can do. And even then, I have to see what else I can do. I will not be satisfied until I keep chipping away at what else needs to be done. Maybe your challenge doesn’t look like a 20 mile bike ride. Maybe it looks like trying something new. Maybe it is reaching out to someone that you are unsure of the what the reception will be like from the other side. Maybe your challenge is to learning to let go of things that cannot be changed. But with the glory and tears and everything in between, you will find out a lot about yourself. Perhaps, some thing you never wanted to learn. But maybe with those few steps you take to getting better, stronger, and more confident, things change. You change. You have that inner drive to want more. If you are going to go, go hard. Go…because it means something to you. I am not competing against anyone else in this world. I compete against me. And every day, I want to be better than I was the day before. Can you do this? Or course you can. I am calling you out as I say, “CHALLENGE!” Bring your A-game. Every day. I want to see what you have…what you bring to the table. Tomorrow, you are going to bring something new. Surprise me. The taste of success is yours and you will crave it even more. Use it to push yourself. To motivate you. To challenge yourself. To stand tall. But when it is all said and done, it all comes down to one thing… “You Gotta Want It’ by Jordin Sparks
Michelle A. Homme 2014 ©
