Self Imposed Limits

I stood on the inside, looking through the glass, as my friend waited for my help. She had turned the handle and pulled the door, but it was swollen with moisture owing to the rain, and didn’t open. She watched me come near the door and smile at her through the glass, but instead of pushing the door from the inside, I simply encouraged her loudly, “Try again.” Once more, she turned the handle and pulled the door, with more force that second time. It opened. If we had been somewhere else, I might have helped someone trying to open a door; but we were about to train for strength, endurance, flexibility and balance. I was in trainer mode. The help I gave her was encouragement and an expression of my faith in her. I knew she could open the door and that she hadn’t applied her full effort the first time. The obstacle wasn’t as big as she thought at first (wondering if the door might be locked). The door was unlocked. The failed first attempt to open it was due to an imagined limit. Rejecting imaginary limits is one of the keys to finding success in training and in life. There are real obstacles and even concrete barriers in life sometimes, but when we stop trying because of these; when we don’t seek a way around or over; when we stop looking for an alternate route to success, we have allowed the limit of our own imagination to determine our success or failure. It is not the absence of difficulty that defines a successful life: it is precisely one’s positive response to difficulty which allows for the development of increased strength, for personal success, for increased peace and ultimately is what leads to joy in life. If I had opened the door for my friend, she would have laughed at herself and come inside. As it was; we both laughed, she pulled harder and came in without my physical help. She’s pretty easy going and responds well to coaching. Training is about learning to overcome personal obstacles and discovering we have more strength than we thought. It’s about trying again and by so doing, developing increased strength through an enduring effort. We aren’t defined by a failed first attempt. We define ourselves by the path we choose to follow over the course of a lifetime. None of us who SWEAT together are in it for the accomplishment of one single door opened: it’s not about getting a swimsuit body, getting into a dress for a special event, or winning an upcoming competition. We train for enduring health. We train to enjoy living without self-imposed limits; real or imagined.