Persistence: Keep On Keeping On

Some days we roar with our accomplishments, shouting our feats of strength and runs of record time to the world.  And other days, we quietly continue on our journey, lifting weights, sweating on the elliptical, and dragging ourselves through a long run.  Work outs aren’t always great and sometimes just getting through it feels like the biggest accomplishment.  And you know what? That’s okay.

We’ve said that fitness is not a sprint, but a marathon, a journey that we take to become better.  And that’s good and true, but the inner strength to continue on is about persistence. It’s keeping on keeping on when we’d rather stay in bed after a fitful night’s rest. It’s slipping on those running shoes when we’d rather sit still for just ten minutes at the end of the day. Persistence is knowing that we’re in this for something much more than this moment in time and choosing to honor that future.

As the cooler weather starts to kick in here in the Northeastern part of the United States, the sun rises later and the temptation to stay snuggled under the warm covers is overwhelmingly appealing at 4am.  But I think it’s in those moments, these moments when we’d rather do anything other than move, that we exercise our willpower over our doubts and excuses.

And the brain and the spirit, just like the body, need that time to fight and exercise and stretch out of their comfort zones.  When we become complacent or accepting of our excuses, we stop being the person we were meant to be.  So this winter, fight. Fight those excuses and the negative voices inside your head. Fight the doubt and the pull of the warm, cozy blanket, and go get your workout in.

Persist. Keep going. Stop giving up on your goals.  You don’t need to shout your workout success from the rooftop every day, but you do need to check “Work out” off of your to-do list.  Go.  You’re worth it.