Defining 'Challenge'

Okay so I better jam some words out before I forget and the day slips away. Does that ever happen to you? Do days just fly by and you find you’ve forgotten something - some little thing - that you promised you would do for your soul? Yet another unnoticed geeky little personal goal again left behind in the corner like the “weird” kid that never stood up for himself and made a ruckus. Yes, that *could be* my little #500wordsaday challenge. But not today.

So, what’s on topic today? Beer? Climbing the hillz by bike? Leg pain? Culinary delights? NROTC scholarships? Awesome kids? Being an outlaw? Moving to a third world country (possibly Batavia - okay, that’s kinda a joke... I really meant Lisle..) and starting a commune?

So many possibilities.

I think I will choose, just for a moment, to talk about how amazing people are. Specifically, some of my yoga students.

They always bring a smile to my face. They inspire me daily. Today, one of my students wanted to do inversions. I roughed ‘em up a bit in my power class - lots of planks and core activities and got them super sweaty (they like that - sometimes I actually get scolded if I lighten up!). Then during our stretch, I got the request from Heather. SHe said they always make her feel happy. And isn’t that what it’s all about anyway? So that would be next. 

It’s not a secret that my power classes aren’t for the light hearted. But what really inspires me is watching the transformation. I’ve been asking my students to give me leg lifts from headstand. Constant motion. It’s a great core workout, but it’s not easy. Inversions can drum up fear in someone who is not accustomed. Now on top of it, I’m asking them not to use their elbows and knees. I personally struggle with this from handstand. My friend and student, Angie, has been working on it from pike although she kills it from straddle. And Ingrid has gone from none to some - which means she has stuck with it and hasn’t given up. That right there is the key. Making the unfamiliar (that which is difficult) into the familiar (that which is easy). I’ll also have to give gratitude to one of my yoga students for the reference points therein as well, by the way.

In the attempt to look up some witty quotes, I came upon this thought by another blogger, “In Beckett’s terms, we need Boredom to escape the terror of the unfamiliar, and must endure Suffering if we are to create for ourselves more than a base life.” It is the long and more eloquent way of reiterating the old adage: if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you. On occasion, I have been known to drop the idea that, for some, taking the break - or, in other words, to *not* take the challenge - IS the challenge. The idea of being at peace with yourself is a profound one and one that, unfortunately, I find is a common problem we have with our ego, id and psyches.

For me, being alone and quiet is a necessity. Like food or water. I’m sure it’s more common that people would imagine. Introverts, after all, are not going to go about blathering about their alone time. But rather, as if in denial, secretly squirrel away and find their own space privately.

In sum, no matter what your challenge is - whether it be to chill or to take risks - that is for you to decide and that is for you to do and either choice is great and necessary. Do that. You are your only judge - so be kind.