A few weeks ago on a Friday, I had a conversation with Jordanna, who chalks the sidewalks before we run the hills on Summit Ave. We were talking about the world a little bit–how hard it is some days to write…or say…or think (and possibly even believe) the things she usually chalks on the ground. Our conversation turned to the facts–not the opinions & feelings we have about the world–but rather the fact that those hills go down, and they go up. And that we cannot fully appreciate the accomplishment of getting up the hill if we have not journeyed all the way down them too. And we cannot fully appreciate the relief and ease of going down the hill if we have not persevered all the way up them too. The conclusion was: the down and the up are nothing without each other.
I’m pretty sure the same is true in life. We all walk through days, weeks, months and ongoing time with moments of great joy and success, celebration and happiness. And we all have other moments of great challenge and difficulty, pain and struggle. One set of experiences certainly makes the others richer, as long as we are open to being expanded and growing as human beings.
And as silly as it might seem, what we did at November Project this morning in Boston reinforces for me this fact. We are strengthened by what challenges us, especially when the challenge is undertaken by our own choice (choosing to show up), when it is experienced in a tolerable amount (scalable options), and when we face it with the right support network (the tribe is strong). So while the workout today of going up and down a pretty steep, grassy hill doing a lap of sprints, a lap of bear crawl down/crab walk up, a lap of reverse lunges down/run backwards up, and a lap of lunges down/bunny hops up was hot-sauce-firey-hard, each down and up gave us the opportunity to appreciate what was hard, what felt easier, what was fun, what was unexpected, what we hoped we’d never have to do again, and what made us better/fitter/faster athletes. The downs and the ups are nothing without each other.
And then, let’s not forget that it’s September, which means #Sebtember #Septbastians. Those fuckers are just hard…nothing easy about 7 minutes of burpees. But we did them. We did them on top of that hard workout. And we’ll do them again next week and the week after that too. And we’ll all be better for it.
Whether you’re on a down or an up, remember the other is there. Hold on to the tribe, because it’s always there too. And just keep showing up.
Let’s keep changing the world, friends. See you on Wednesday.
