A Question We All Must Answer

There is a basic question that we all must answer in life.  The question comes in limitless forms but we will all get it regardless.  It is as avoidable as death.  That simple question is, what are you going to do when things get tough?  Who are you going to be when things are hard.  How will you answer that question when the time comes?

This came to me in training for my second Spartan race.  People say things like, you could win, or you could do really well at the World Championships.  They say I am a pretty good athlete and I will have an advantage at altitude.  They say many more things.  I appreciate all of this because some of it may be true and it is certainly a good sentiment.

But no matter what happens out there...regardless of who wins, who performs well, who conquers the obstacles in the most dominant fashion...we are all just answering that one simple question.

My goal isn't to win or to have a fast time or look good in the professional photos.  I know that all I can really do is answer the question well.  And only I know if I have answered it fully.  Only I know if I gave up on the inside.

Is an obstacle in life a disadvantage?

There were times in my life I might have thought so, especially if I were assuming that people's success around me might have come "easier" to them.  Maybe it did but it probably didn't.  Bad things happen but I am not convinced that bad events can't be made into some sort of advantage in the long run.  Hence why someone like Stephen Hawking gets my attention.  The guy can't even move his lips anymore and yet he still manages to share ideas and change the world.

Comfort stunts growth.  I have the opportunity to get perspective every day that I work with/for those with disabilities.  And I'm not talking about the disabilities some people get political about (i.e. obesity), I'm talking about a guy with idiopathic infection of his spinal cord who may never walk again, the girl who was thrown out of her house at 17 and was homeless for 10 years and has PTSD from being attacked on the street, and the people born with such harsh developmental disorders they'll never be able to speak a coherent word.  

I believe the mind is the most powerful tool we can manipulate.  It's not a new concept.  But I'm saying it for a reason.  The information may be out there but that does not mean we are executing it properly.  Who I am when things are tough is more important than who I am at any other time in my life.

We cannot stop change.  Change is the law of nature.  So if we are always evolving as a culture and always changing as individuals...maybe we shouldn't be seeking comfort and convenience.  Big business once convinced me that I was supposed to work hard so I could buy all the things I wanted...and then I would be happy because I had comfort and security.  It's a naive way to operate.

Many of our problems have nothing to do with inconvenience and everything to do with our inability to accept discomfort.  Discomfort gives us the chance to answer the all important question.  Who am I when things are really, really hard?  How in the world are we supposed to grow if we never have to answer that question?

However you like to answer that question, all the more power to you.