Earn the Struggle

This game of movement is full of struggles. It’s full of effort that goes by the wayside and doesn’t always yield immediate results, but it’s always building. It’s very possible that you could try a muscle up fifty or a hundred times before you ever complete one. When you finally complete one you have now earned some struggles that you weren’t aware of before. What is that funny feeling in my elbow? How do I avoid strap burn on my arms? Should I do strict or kipping next time? Can I string them together? Oh, this is how a gymnast begins their routine on the rings. That’s quite a realization to have. It’s quite a new humbling framework to view you journey.

You see, the greatest thing about learning and achievement is that it never stops. When you learn something it is revealed to you how much you don’t actually know. This makes me think of that scene in “National Treasure” when they walk in the cave and the torch they are holding illuminates the gold immediately in front of them. They are not aware of the size of the room they are in until they light the gutter system that leads throughout the whole room. The expanse of the gainable knowledge out there is much more than any of us can hope to conquer. There will not be a day where you feel as if you made it. Making it is captured in the journey. Making it is conquering the hurdles that present themselves before you.

Struggles are needed. Struggles are given to the seekers. The more struggles you can surmount, the more successful you will find yourself. But, you must earn each layer of struggle. Just pay attention a little and make sure your struggle isn’t always the same one. Also, don’t let the struggle get you down. Realize it is part of journey. It means you are pushing the envelope and living. Congratulations. The scary life is the life of no resistance. Once you realized what happened, it is probably too late.

 

Danny Lesslie

@dannylesslie