Being tired doesn’t make you special. Being busy doesn’t make you special. We all woke up early today. We all have our shit. You can choose to be the victim, or you can choose to change your attitude. It’s about making a choice.
-My SoulCycle instructor, Lauren
It was 6am on a Thursday. The room was dark and warm and I could feel the pounding bass reverberate through my bones. There were nearly 60 of us packed into the room, sweat already beading on our foreheads as we adjusted our bikes and began to pedal.
But as I tried to close my eyes and get into the zone for the next 45 minutes of this SoulCycle class, I struggled. I was so tired.
And then my instructor, Lauren, dished up the quote above and it was a lightbulb-flashing-much-needed-sermon to my ears and my heart. At that moment I knew–
Sometimes what we need a big serving of tough love with a side helping of quit the bullshit to get us where we need to go.
So here’s a helping served up fresh.
I’ll be honest. These past few weeks were some of my hardest yet. On top of a demanding schedule, pending apartment move, and some personal matters, work brought tight deadlines, crazy clients, and projects galore.
I was overwhelmed. I was tired. But when I heard Lauren’s words at 6am, I snapped back to attention.
Tough love truth: the attitudes we decide to don each morning affect the outcome of our days.
The truth was, in that moment, I held the power. I could decide– is this going to be a bad day? Or a challenging– but great– one? Was I going to spin my legs and lose myself in the music, or continue to let the thoughts and looming to-do list take over?
I could command my mood and my outlook, how I handled my relationships and how I managed my work. Was I going to slip on my sassy shoes and don my badass armor to face the day? Or was I going to wear the weight of the victim cardigan, woven with pity and discouragement?
I had a choice. I could decide.
Now what I am not trying to do is discount the big things, the messy heart-and-gut-wrenching-things, we deal with– because life IS tough and there are battles many of us face that bring us to our knees.
I get it. I’ve been there.
The world is an ugly place right now. It is scary. It is full of fear and hate and darkness and that will not stop until Jesus comes. But this world is also oh so full of beauty and light.
Sometimes we have a choice when it comes to what we see. What we choose to see, how we decide to let it get to us or not get to us. Sometimes it is simple:
We can choose to remain a victim to our stressful weeks and our workloads and our perceived responsibilities, or we can smile as we battle on. We can accept the challenge, we can voice our fears, and we can dive deeper into what gives us energy and life and refills our cups at the end of the day.
But on a daily basis, the overload of whining and complaining, the excuses, well, it only serves to bring us down. To bring others down.
We are all dealing with something: demanding schedules, responsibilities. Overwhelming work days. Illness. Exhaustion. Heartbreak. Loss. You name it. Big things, little things. But we can choose to remain victims to our present circumstances, or we can battle on together.
We can clip in to the bike and start pedaling forward.
I say this boldly: let us set down our walls of solitary soldiering. Set frivolous worries free. Instead may we embrace the challenge, look lively upon opportunities to shift our perspectives, our schedules, our priorities and demands.
May we hold one another tight. After all, we have a world of hate to tackle with our love and perseverance. Let not one more drop of energy be wasted on remaining the victim– for we are called to fight.
Bad day? Tough, love. Let’s grab some pizza and a bottle of wine and fix it together. Shall we?
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Toss your hair in a messy topknot, chug your coffee. Blast this tune or these badass beats and handle it!
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