On Mercy

Why do we look for mercy?

Really, why? Sometimes, we're in the middle of a workout and we start to feel sorry for ourselves. We think things like "This is hard" and "This hurts" and "I want to stop SO much."

Like we're still ten years old and Mommy will come tell us "It's okay, sweetie. You don't have to do this." 

On some level, we yearn for some benevolent being to tell us we're still good and true and strong even if we quit.

Well, maybe that's true – we can be good people even if we are not fit – but does it really matter?

Would you feel as good if you quit and walked away in the middle of a workout? Have you ever? Honestly. Have you ever walked away from a workout in the middle and just given up? How did it feel? And did the memory haunt you? Does it still? I don't know for sure, but I suspect the ghosts of efforts past drive us on more than any coach ever could.

So, we sometimes yearn for mercy, but really in our heart of hearts we don't want it.

Not us. If we liked things nice and easy, we'd be doing something other than lifting a barbell.

In our world, mercy comes only after the coach yells "Time!"