I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends ...

This post is dedicated to all my friends who hold me up when I am feeling as if I can't keep this crazy quest going.  You humble me with your generosity, thoughtfulness, humor and love.  I'm not sure how I would keep going without you.

Grind:  "To shape, sharpen, or refine with friction," or, "To instill or teach by persistent repetition."

The word grind has become something of a catchphrase these days, usually referring to someone who keeps at something for a long time which may or may not result in achieving a certain goal.  It's an apt description for what I've been doing over the past month as I have been recovering from a severe ankle sprain, and honestly, the past few days of the grind have been super hard.  The ankle itself has been healing nicely, something for which I am extremely grateful, but progress in the gym has definitely been set back.  I've been down this road before, innumerable times it seems, and I know, intellectually, that every set back has made me stronger, mentally if not physically.  And, as my friend Coop said, "Injury is a part of being an athlete." 

So, I've been thinking a lot about grinding and how to wrap my head around this phase of my training.  Posting about this particular struggle on Facebook certainly helped.  The outpouring of support and kindness made me cry. Remembering that so many other people are going through waaaay tougher stuff than I am helps too.  Some of my friends are dealing with serious illnesses, financial issues, family turmoil and all kinds of other things.  Lifting my head up and looking around the world where people's lives are being destroyed by hurricanes and earthquakes certainly has a way of putting my shit in perspective  Seeing videos of adaptive athletes persevere through much more serious physical issues than I can imagine also helps remind me that I am tremendously blessed to be in such good health and lucky to do what I love with all four limbs intact and functioning.

Given all that, maybe the way through the grind isn't to resist it, maybe there is a way to embrace it.  If grinding is a process that changes the form of something then maybe this particular grind is changing me, shaping, sharpening and refining me as an athlete and as a person.  There are lessons to be learned here about what it means to show up and do work even when showing up is the last thing I want to do.  There are lessons about perseverance and courage to be learned here, and, there are lessons to be learned about humility and acceptance of my own frailties and vulnerabilities.

So, to all my friends, I will keep showing up and grinding and growing.  I'll try to be patient and I'll try and learn all I can from this "persistent repetition." I can't promise to be without complaint and I can assure you there will be cussing but I'll do my best to keep both to a minimum. 

That said, you are all in my heart and every one of the seemingly endless repetitions of lat pull downs I will continue to do will be a lot more tolerable because of the gifts of love and support you have given me.