I was thinking the other day about toughness and living a tough life and I realized I am no where near as tough as I previously believed.
Granted I've never considered myself a "tough guy" in the classic sense, I don't go looking for fights, in fact my natural inclination is to avoid a physical confrontation at most costs, but if push comes to shove I will do what is necessary to protect those I care for and what I believe in. But being willing and able to fight is not really a true measure of toughness. I'm talking about over coming adversity, thriving in diffucult circumstances, getting back up more times than you get knocked down. And that is where I believe I lack toughness. All I have to do is look in my workout log and see all the red marks signifying a missed workout. Now I know some of those may have been legit reason's like sickness or injury but a lot, and more often than not, it's because I was tired or sore from the previous days workout. Those are from a lack of mental toughness, that lack of perseverance or a win at all cost mentality that gets one through a tough workout or out of bed at 4:30 am to go put in the work to achieve a goal.
This is what was going through my mind this morning when I so badly wanted to go back to sleep and skip my planned bike ride. I was tired and sore from yesterday and I wanted to crawl back into bed and just sleep, but I challenged myself, I asked myself if I was mentally tough enough to go through with it and I'm happy to say I answered the call and I got a good workout in.
I don't take too much pride in my minor accomplishment this morning especially when I think about how it stackes up to other individuals who are answering a much more impactful challenge. Those individuals in the armed forces, police, fireman, emergency responders and given our recent snow and ice utility workers out all day and night keeping us safe and helping restore power. They get up early answer the call each and everyday for something way more important than training for a triathlon. They really live by the catchy little tag line at the bottom of my post's when I'm just playing at it hoping I can somehow live up to their standards. Maybe I won't be fighting crime or rushing into a burning building anytime soon, but there are things I can and should be doing that can positively impact the world around me.
So today I say it with a little different meaning...
Until next time... Do today what other's won't, so tomorrow you can do what other's can't.
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