This week, our focus is on making small tweaks to build strength. As Steve pointed out in Monday's post, our tweaks this week are not merely about having physical strength. In fact that is only one piece of the puzzle. When I think about what strength means at its core, it means standing firm in the face of challenge.
Being a strong person doesn't mean one is stone cold and cut off from the world around them. Being strong might even mean being raw and vulnerable at times.
Sometimes being strong means you have to say the thing that no one else is willing to say.
Sometimes being strong means you have to bend, change directions and even let go when you find yourself in a place that isn't healthy.
Being strong is not easy. Being a living embodiment of true strength takes consistent work and endurance often over a long period of time. Think of the strength Jackie Robinson displayed as the first African American player in Major League Baseball. I love the scene in the film 42 when Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey tells the young Robinson, before he ever takes a big league field, that he needs to have the guts NOT to fight back. My heart went out to Robinson as he stayed cool over and over again in the face of overwhelming adversity and injustice all around him. And look what he made possible for others as a result.
A more recent example of towering strength is Diana Nyad who, at age 64 and on her fifth attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida, finally walked up on the shore of Key West, guided by her mantra of "Find a way." She is an amazing example of the truth of there being no limits.
Yes, the inspiration and purpose for building strength is all around us, once we start looking for it and moving towards it ourselves.
Living – In the realm of the physical, most of us sit far too much, myself included. Often people assume that because I teach so much, I am constantly exercising. Unfortunately this isn't true. During classes I am up walking around and adjusting people, but it is nothing like doing my own practice because my attention is on my students and not myself.
This week, my small tweak has been to make time for something physical each day. While I generally do some yoga daily, I have loved changing it up this week: getting outside for a hike, doing mini workouts at home during my breaks, and getting back to Crossfit. One thing I will also emphasize is that being strong means you also need to nourish yourself with good food and enough sleep. That is something I have been making a more conscious effort to pay attention to this week.
If you aren't sure how things are going in these dimensions you can take our simple sleep and nutrition assessments to get an idea.
Working – Building strength at work this week has been pushing beyond my comfort zone and dreaming big. You will get to see how this is really going as Steve and I add things to this online community and prepare for Project One, but I can honestly say, I am more excited about work than I think I have ever been.
Being – Meditation has been a great reminder that at my core nothing can shake me. There are very few things that are so grounding as meditation and having that practice as part of my life creates a deeper strength than any weight lifting challenge I can think of (except for Steve's Turkish get up challenge maybe, that seems like it is going to be hard work for me too :)).
