"To stay on the map, you've got to keep showing up."
Everyone has them. Those days it would be easier to go off the map. Fly under the radar. Asking the question what if I just didn't show up?
I've pushed myself more this year than in past years. I conquered some new challenges, tried to get on the same page as my over enthusiastic mind, and stepped farther away from this thing I call my comfort zone. The box. I may not have retreated back to the box, but I have moved backward. What I thought was progress was just several steps back after taking a step forward.
Currently I am trying to find the joy again in what I do. Those words come from my #secretproject person. The joy in getting miles in before dawn. But through all of these things, I still show up. I still crawl out of bed (most days) and get out there and get something done. I have learned over the past several years that I do not like feeling limited to what I can do.
I wrote about my first experience with a full on triathlon. A short triathlon. I remember as I stood at the swim start line and my friend looked on, I told her I couldn't do this. Yet, with her (and many others) words of wisdom, I swept whatever thoughts of not showing up to the side and finished.
Let's do some time traveling, shall we? There are a few who are not familiar with my story....the journey I took. It would have been easy for me to leave things the way they were, take the medicine, and leave things unchanged. What if I just didn't show up? Didn't show up and make that 360 degree life change. What if? I know if I had just not shown up I wouldn't be alive to motivate and inspire (discreetly) others. I wouldn't have the privilege to experience the things I have experienced. I wouldn't have met the awesome people I now know and call friends.
What if I just didn't show up? The start line to the many races I have completed. The finish line I cross, most times with happy tears, as a symbol my body can do most anything. I owe myself to show up and give it 100%. Even on the days I much rather not. If I had just not shown up, I wouldn't know it's possible to lose 202 lbs. and have a life I'd only imagined.
Take a breather and ask this; What if I just didn't show up? To the invitation from a friend. Doing something out of the norm. Taking a chance....on anything. It's true nothing good happens inside the comfort zone.
I continue to push myself. Take those chances. Sometimes good. Sometimes not so good. Then there are surprises. But what if I had just not shown up? We'll never know.
What if you just didn't show up? I'll continue to show up...and with glitter all the weigh of course!
Hope my hot weather friends stay cool and hydrated!
