Some of you might know that I’m in the last week of my Second 75 Hard Challenge. On my first attempt, I had to stop on day 34 because I got sick. This time around I made it thru the slump and I’m at day 65 as I write this. It’s a tough one.
For those of you that are not familiar with the challenge of the rules, it is as follows. You must follow a good clean diet. You must do two 45min workouts a day. One workout must be outside. No alcohol or cheat meals. You must drink 1 gallon of water per day (3.75L). You must read 10 pages of a self-development book and take a progress photo. 7 days a week. For 75 Days. No rest. If you miss one task you start over, on day one.
It is a mental challenge, and you must attack it as such. The Strong was born out of my first attempt. So, I was excited to see what was to come from the second attempt. I was determined to finish this time around no matter what.
The last two weeks however was no joke and it felt for the most part of it I’m only going thru the motions. My energy levels were low, I was hungry most of the day and my body was begging for a rest. I had a sense of disappointment. And felt that I did not get something out of the last sixty-five days.
I stayed the course nonetheless. One morning I felt particularly sorry for myself. And I had to dig deep just to get thru the damn workout, in my pity, these words rang in my head. I’m no poet but I guess hunger and exhaustion do strange things to a man.
If the weights are heavy. If you can’t keep the reps steady.
This is the place you grow. Where you pay what you owe.
If you want to through-up. All you think about is give-up
This is the place you get stronger. Where you learn to live longer
If you can’t put one foot in Infront of the other. If your mind is screaming why bother?
This is the place you acquire grit. Where your mind learns to stay fit.
I thought about the words for the rest of the day. Not much changed my mood. I was still tired and giving up was still in my head. But there was a tiny spark of hope.
Something changed. Although it didn’t seem like much at the time, and it took me a day or two to figure out, my perspective changed. I saw that the hunger and tiredness needed to be present to make me dig deeper, to get some sort of awareness of what was going on.
It took sixty-five days for me to get to the “give-up” part of the challenge and although I hated it at first. I realized that this valley of despair is exactly where I should be. It’s the place I pay my dues. Although it might seem somewhat sadistic. The hard place in life is where you grow most. Where you get to know yourself better. It is not fun, but the benefits are priceless.
Perspective is a powerful tool. It can make the unbearable, bearable. In Dr Viktor E Frankl’s book Mans Search for Meaning, he tells the story of a man whose wife passed away. The grief and pain were unbearable. He asked Dr Frankl for help.
At First Dr Frankl did not know how he could help him. The simple solution was for him to bring back the man’s wife, and that was impossible she was dead. After about five minutes of silence Dr Frankl asked the man a single question “if you passed away before your wife, would you be pleased if you knew your wife had to carry this pain?” The man answered with a simple No thanked Dr. Frankl and left his office.
The man seemed lighter and somewhat content. What changed? His perspective changed. His suffering was not pointless anymore. He suffered so his wife did not have to. There was purpose in the pain, and this made it easier to carry.
Maybe you feel like you are enduring hardship. That life became pointless in a way. Maybe you want to give up? Perhaps all you need is a perspective change. And who knows you might just find purpose in your suffering and carry it a little easier. Those who have a ‘why to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’.
“Keep Going. Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments of your life. Keep going. Tough situations build strong people in the end.”
― Roy T. Bennet
THE STRONG