I don't know whether it has to do with self concept, self esteem, not fully believing in my physical abilities or something else. I know that I can push myself to some serious extremes. I can work out at the gym until I literally feel like throwing up, but when it comes to certain things there is a mental block.
One of these was in today's workout. They are called box jumps. I am sure most of you know what they consist of or can guess. It is just a matter of jumping with both feet off the ground onto a surface that is higher and in front of you. I feel 100% confident that I can physically do them, but I can not get my feet off the ground. I have tried holding onto things, having Kent help me, and nothing works. There must be something mentally stopping me from achieving these. A similar thing happens with burpees. I typically do the modified version that has a stepping motion instead of the hop back and forward. I can and have done it with the hop, but each time I attempt there is a moment where a lot of talking myself into it occurs.
Of course I could just skip these areas of the workout, but that would not make me any closer to overcoming them. Therefore, I will keep trying and researching new ways to train myself to be stronger mentally and physically for those things which challenge me the most. I have come a long way, but these are the things that remind me how much further I have to go.
I watched a very inspiring video about a group of wounded soldiers that completes a Spartan Race a few weekends ago. One of them did it on an artificial leg and missing an arm. These men are true heros. Not only have they faced the situations that caused the injuries, but now they get out there and physically challenge themselves against so many obstacles. They don't let anything stand in their way.
We all have things you can relate to my burpees/box jumps. It is that one thing that you see yourself doing, feel confident you can do, but then the time comes, it can't be done. This could be related to work, relationships,weight loss, exercise, life changes, and many other things. We have two choices in these situations either we turn around and let it beat us or we grow stronger each day and eventually overcome. I encourage you to take a long look at the obstacles you face, and do something today to bring yourself one step closer to overcoming them. May you find success in an area that once seemed unattainable.
:-) This is the 4th version of my response to your recent posts. I hope it will be the briefest and final version!
ReplyDeleteWow! You're pushing yourself so hard! Are you sure you have to do the box jump? What if you cut the height of the box in half or more? Are you good at listening to your gut? If your gut says no to the box jump then (I think) you should say no to the box jump. For most people it's some version of inertia that keeps us couch bound, but that's obviously not the case with you. I'm not saying to abandon a goal because it has challenges, just to protect and nurture yourself. As far as I know there's nothing magical about the box jump. Maybe back off and give yourself a little room/time to find a curve in this part of your path?
Your recent posts have all spoken to the question of how we treat ourselves when we make some sort of misstep. You've touched on the fact that it's more productive to acknowledge the misstep and move on than to stop and beat yourself relentlessly. I like to think of a child, somewhere between 2 and 5 years old, who makes some sort of mistake when they are trying to do something or learn something. I imagine them stopping when they make the mistake and getting upset, telling themselves how bad they are for not doing that thing right and then trying again to do it, all tensed up because they now know they aren't good at this..... And then I imagine a very similar child making exactly the same mistake: they see what happened, they figuratively say “oh, that doesn't work”, with absolutely no shame, and if they make that mistake another 10 times they may shake their head in wonder but they don't get down on themselves, they just keep working on the problem. It's obvious to us that the second child has a better chance of succeeding at all kinds of things and that they'll be happy while they're doing whatever they do, whereas the first child will be crippled by their self criticism. I'm working on becoming the 2nd child. It is a more subtle problem than it might sound like to anyone who has never investigated the situation.
Ok, I've got things to do besides try to cram 30 pages worth of thought into two paragraphs. (Comma police should go jog 2 miles before commenting on my sentences.) I hope you deal well with the box jump, without regard to whether you wind up doing them.
Cathy
Truth is digital, reality is analog.
Siddhartha Subramanyam
Cathy I love your post!! The comparison with a child is awesome. My mother would totally agree that we can learn so much from kids. They have it right. We over think everything.
DeleteLove you,
Molly