Discipline: Back in the Saddle Again

Yesterday marked week three of my return to serious bike riding.  I’ve missed riding and between a crazy schedule and the ridiculous heat that has plagued us this summer, I just hadn’t been out much.  In the wake of the Olympics there are no shortage of reminders of the need for physical and mental discipline – so I decided it was time to get back in the saddle again. 

Human beings are very adept at making excuses, and justifying those excuses.  It happens to all of us at one point or another.  The trick is recognizing those times and really trying to push ourselves, either mentally or physically.  Sure we all have real limits, but how often to we actually reach them?  Like everything we must be aware of ourselves and our own real limitations, pushing through the imagined ones.

Discipline, especially the self-imposed variety, is not easy, it’s the very opposite in fact.  Paulo Coelho recognizes and embraces this difficulty in The Alchemist as he reminds readers that whether life, experience, or growth, "It’s real and true, precisely because it’s difficult."

Each of us approaches unique personal challenges along the road, most of which require us to tap previously unrealized levels of discipline. 

“If you are going to win any battle, you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do.  The body will always give up.  It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night.  The body is never tired if the mind is not tired."
-General George S. Patton, U.S. Army and 1912 Olympian

I have not written much here about my journey to a healthier lifestyle, but the short version is this:  In 2009 I realized I had reached an all time low, with respect to my body weight.  Out of shape and unhealthy, I decided a changes was no longer a goal, but a necessity.  With the tremendous support of my wife and coach, Katie, our friends and work out buddies Todd and Jenn Huff, Daniel Cook, and the encouragement of many family and friends, I was able to change my diet and begin a work out regimen that ultimately resulted in the loss of 95lbs.  Yes, ultimately I had to be the one to embrace the discipline of working out regularly and eating right -- but it would have been infinitely harder without a great support system.  (Many Thanks.)

There is still a long way to go, and I struggle with temptations to slack, but it gets a little easier every day.  The mental struggle to commit, often must fought in order for the physical to battle to be won.  I recently realized that such wars are never really won, as they are ongoing.  

But I also realized some encouraging things:  We all struggle.  We all try, and fail.   But in the trial and error we learn.  Through the exercise of the struggle, our endurance improves.   We should celebrate these things, because they are indicators of progress and growth.  By fighting the good fight, we ultimately win, even though a blue ribbon is never awarded. 

I leave you with a soundtrack for this post, one of my favorites Back in the Saddle Again, by Aerosmith.