The Rough Days

Some days are rougher than others.

Maybe you don't feel well, maybe something bad happened at work, maybe your girlfriend left you.

Maybe you forgot to wash your shorts and you had to put on stuff that doesn't feel right.

Or maybe it's just too damn early.

You get to the gym and everything feels wrong.

During the warm-up, you feel slow and tired and old—and you think "Why the f*** am I here?"

These are the best days for learning.

But you're not going to learn shit about the movements. Your mind isn't on them. You won't care about the finer points of the clean or staying on your heels in the push jerk, or the way you can shave an extra half-second off your burpee.

In fact, almost everything the coach says is going to piss you off.You just don't flippin' care. You're on auto-pilot, breathing and existing in the space until the workout is over.And that's okay.

You're about to learn more about the biggest mystery ever: you.

Your body is on auto-pilot, but your mind is alive.

Instead of being in the movement, you're in your mind. And here's where you learn about yourself; about how far down you can go, about how much you can dig, about the depth that you always suspected was in you but were never quite sure about.

Here, on the rough days, is exactly where you make yourself.

Like you had glue or nails or screws and all the building material you ever needed. Right here. Right now.

Here is where you become the person you always wanted to be.

You find the strength and the courage and the sheer guts to get through what you don't want to do. And you finish.

Anybody can make hay while the sun shines. Instead, find the person who can make hay while it's raining.

Pouring. Drenching. Flooding. And still they make hay.

That's the person I want. That's the person you want to keep.

That's the person who people talk about like they're a living legend.

That's the person who makes a difference in this world, at least to their loved ones.

Is that you?

The Rough Days will come. Make the most of them.

You can learn a lot when you don't feel at all like learning.