A Setback? Or a Cue to Change Directions.

We’ve all done it, hit a wall, lost progress… faced a setback. Whether it was an injury or a breakup, perhaps both carry similar lessons. That very thing you experience as a setback, just might be your cue to change directions. 

Weeks into my training with just 3 weeks until my deadline, this week my body quit. My hip flexors screamed for days after 50 Burpees. I mentally failed after that. The thought of doing squats was more than I could fathom. The coach gave me some mobility exercises to work on while the class did the Squat work. It stung my ego big time… to sit out on a workout. Mentally, I felt all the panic of losing the gains I was making. It didn’t occur to me until a few days later and continued work on those nasty hip flexors, this was my chance. My chance to rebuild my squat. So, was it really a set back, or just a chance to fix a fundamental that was put off?

You’ve been dating someone and it just doesn’t work out. As a single person, clearly I can attest to many a break ups. At the moment, they hurt, they’re sad, even when it’s your choice, it just plain sucks. Then… you meet someone different, and you realize, the last just wasn’t what you needed. You might have never figured that out if you hadn’t met someone new, changed directions.

Interestingly through many of my own blunders, the piece that needed fixing was my own. Whether it was settling for a person to help me avoid myself, or putting up with more than I should have because I wasn’t confident about myself. Each “setback” was a chance to rebuild and comeback. 

In all honesty, it’s always been easier to envision the results in everything I do. Sometimes you just have to trust the process. You may not know where you’re going for a while. But if you keep putting one foot in front of the other, one day after another, you’re surely getting somewhere. I trained for 6 weeks and began wondering if ever I’d get my first pull up. When I least expected it, I tried, and I did it! The programming of the cycle was beyond what seemed obvious to me, but it worked. I surrendered and took the steps I could. I brought my all to every workout, and accepted the limitations and the challenges. 

Even when it sucks, bravely place one foot in front of the other, and know that when you turn around next, you will see how far you’ve come.