All the hard things

We can do hard things.

A lot of the “hard things” we mean are physical challenges. We listen to some David Goggins motivation and forget our pain and push through to the finish line of a race, or get up out of the bottom of a heavy squat, or forego dessert for one more day to reach our goal.

With the physical “hard things” there are steps! Just put one foot in front of the other…eat fewer calories than you burn…increase the weight by 5-10% or increase reps to failure in order to squat that heavy weight you set a goal for.

The emotional “hard things” are a lot different. There are no steps. No calendar, no timeline, nothing to tell you “HEY GREAT JOB! You are HEALING!!”

If you ask me, that is a little ridiculous. I want a checklist! I want a timeline! “Do x to get y.” Maybe the most frustrating part of all is there is no right way. No one can tell me what to do. I have to make those decisions for myself about what will be best for me in this emotionally hard season.

To me, “decisions” are on par with “running.” We all know how I feel about running. And it isn’t just one decision I have to make…but many. Little decisions and big decisions. Some decisions are fun, like “what color do I want to paint the walls?” and some are frustrating, like “What do I want for the rest of my life, and how do I get there?”

Some decisions are no-brainers…like I should join Overthinkers Anonymous if it even exists, and stop replaying decisions I made many years ago. I can’t change those, I can only move forward. Except forward looks a lot different than I expected. Forward looks hard. Forward looks daunting.

I have no idea what forward means right now.

Maybe forward just means waking up tomorrow and doing this all over again. Workout, work, home, kids, sleep; lather, rinse, repeat. Maybe if I keep doing those things, other things will fall into place. I’m not going to think things won’t get worse, because they could.

But they could also get better.

Here’s hoping they will.