Yesterday was awesome. .. not just for the birthday celebrations but also for the swim….
4225 yards… 2.4 miles..2 h 3min long and slow…..179 laps… boring as heck?
No.. there was a beautiful tune to the rhythm of life and endurance training that i witnessed… allow me to share
Our minds control most of our lives… day in and day out.. our realities are in fact created by our thoughts… so it goes to reason that if we can control our thoughts we can control our realities..
Yet our minds are very powerful though fickle.. as most of us… me especially have 10000 thoughts a second…yet how do I focus my thoughts one might ask?
Great question… endurance sports is one such way.. especially if I have to do anything repeatedly for longer than 20 minutes… let alone 2 hours like the swim.
Doing anything “endurance ” is about pushing past the limits of the mind… and exploring the strengths of the physical
The mind was quick to ask “how much longer?” ( just 4 laps in !) Or ” wow look how much we have done.. lets stop” ( 20 laps in) “how much more is left ?” ( 40 laps in)
But for me yesterday it was not about looking at the clock.. as these ponderings of my mind were asking questions about the past or the future… but not the present… this is where all the magic happens…
It was about becoming patient and grounded with the present and going the distance
For me endurance is about settling into the suffering and waving into the center point of the serenity past the mind full chatter
Endurance is about not stopping in a goal of our choice till it is achieved
Endurance is not about competing with a stranger or even just being side by side with a friend… but more about finding the SPEED of MY life and adjusting it to the PACE of MY heart beat and nestle it into each BREATH…
It is here where endurance becomes learning to LIVE life which is technically an endurance sport from the start line of our first cry to the finish line of our last breath…
What do i do for any long swim, bike, run? I go into gratitude for everything and everyone.. I become present with this colossal ever growing list in my head….and tempered by my heart
Once ” done” something transformative happens… stillness.. as I find the calm within the storm of my mind…
Silence… here lies potential… and next thing I know 179 laps were done..
Controlling the mind to find the pace of your heart beat. .. hmmm….magic
Find your pace each day… it’s not inside your head… it lies outside of it…. and the Co pilot is your heart space and co create your reality
……………
I love you
