It’s a new year. Typically it is a time we talk about making resolutions and making promises to ourselves and sharing them with the world.
This year I will …
I promise to …
I really want …
I read an article this morning where the author talked about what are we willing to suffer to get what we want. Oh it’s easy to say I want to have a buff body and look like a physically fit goddess. That’s nice. But are really ready to suffer to get there? It involves going to the gym every day and working out. You don’t just show up, look pretty for an hour and leave. Nope, you work, you sweat, you are in pain, you do things to your body you never thought you’d be able to do. You hurt. You suffer. Are you willing to suffer?
Last year, 2015, I had two tattoos on my arm. Pretty little things. The first one hurt like a sumabitch when I got it and I didn’t think I could handle it. The second one hurt too – but the artist was quicker. Then I made the decision that I wanted a sleeve. That’s a full tattoo on the lower half of my left arm. The entire arm covered in art work. I found the artist I like and we went to work. It hurt each time I went. Each freeking time. The pain is intense. I learned to breath through it. I learned to feel it. I learned to listen to my friends talk to me when it was really bad. Heck, I learned who my friends were. I suffered. I did NOT cry. I took pride in the piece of art that was developing on my skin. It’s done now. It took almost a year to be completed. It will be with me for the rest of my life. It’s beautiful. Suffering has created this righteous piece of art. I stepped up and said this is what I want, and I’m willing to suffer for it.
A couple of months ago I made the decision my health was a top priority. I began eliminating wheat from my diet. It sucks. I like bread. I like pasta. I like food with wheat. You could say it’s addictive. It would be a whole lot easier to just keep eating it. In the short term it could be easier. I had a decision to make. Did I want to suffer now, eat better and feel much better in the long run? Or did I just want to keep doing what I was doing and probably get fatter and die sooner? I knew I that I could take the ‘pain’ and overcome – and learn how to live without the wheat. I made the decision to stop eating wheat. Oh yeah, there are moments when I long for a hamburger with a bun and lots of ketchup. I suffer. (No ketchup either.)
Next up: movement. Everyday.
So this year, 2016, is a year of suffering. I want the process, I want the struggle. I want the reward. I want it all.