Wednesday, February 12, 2025
I want to encourage you today to push yourself. I’m not talking about pushing yourself to do what feels like a chore, but to challenge yourself to do what’s in the back of your mind. You know that feeling of something being in the back of your mind or on the tip of your tongue? That preemptive sensation is a tiny urging, a gap for wisdom that we seldom pay attention to.
I often notice that urging in me, when it comes to physical fitness. I enjoy that feeling of pushing myself, to add more reps to my workout routine, or to add more time to the lap swim, or to increase the pace on a jog. The body responds well when you figure out how to push it a bit. I’m pushing 50, but I’m pushing back.
Set challenges for yourself. Make them fun. Goal setting is fun, but pushing the bar up a bit is exhilarating. Learn a bigger, more complex piece if you’re a musician. Cut those extra calories if you’re overweight. Read those books you’ve put off. Start that resistance training. It’s all hanging out in the back of your mind.
Push out those feelings of holding back or playing it safe. My fitness coach recently swam an 8 mile swim in The Keys with an infestation of jellyfish! He pushed himself. He came in 10th in the men’s division. It’s never too late to push yourself. The grave will push you in at some point, but I say push against it! Do something new. Bust a limit. See what happens. It might impress you if you learn what you can do. And once you do it – push some more and see how far it can go. Don’t push to go to the nursing home. Nudge yourself to vibrancy as long as you can!