Thursday, March 27, 2008

Your challenges in life are an opportunity for your body, mind and spirit to explore new horizons.

For the last couple of months, I’ve been experiencing a good bit of pain in my upper back and shoulder – intense enough that it has put a major damper on my Ironman training. What a beautiful gift!

Since early in this year of new beginnings, I have been in a new relationship with a beautiful, special woman. My past relationships haven’t been all that great, so entering a new one dredged up a few old fears and insecurities. The pain that I’m feeling is a physical manifestation of those fears and insecurities. The great thing is that, by listening to the pain, I have become aware of things within myself that I need to clear. Had my fears continued simmering away beneath the surface, they may have caused me to unconsciously sabotage this beautiful new relationship. Instead, I have been doing deep inner work that is allowing me to become a more caring partner for the special woman in my life, and a better person all around.

Another benefit of the pain is that it has turned me inward on my quest to becoming an Ironman. Since I’m pretty much unable to swim, bike or run, I have started using my training time to visualize my successful completion of the race. Completing an Ironman is as much mental as physical, so my visualizations are good training in and of themselves – and important training that I have been neglecting up until now.

Don’t fight your challenges; learn from them. They are a gift – an opportunity to creatively expand into a new, fuller life.

No comments: