Endurance

At the beginning of step class, Marisa announced that the goal today was endurance. We all looked around at each other as if to say, "Oh snap." And true to her nature, it was epic and just what I needed.  In my time working out, the word "endurance" has come up quite a bit and, when used in the gym, always means you're in for it. 

Endurance also is:

• Making it through a tough class, or a new class, whether you hit all the steps or not.
• Facing the scale on a regular basis, even you'd rather gouge your eyeballs out with a spoon.
• Getting back on track after a bad meal.
• Feeling defeated but fighting back anyway.
• Showing up every day, no matter whether your workout is perfect or not.
• Modifying what you can't do and making your workout fit your situation.
• Facing your fear, whether it be the gym, fit people, or foreign equipment, and sticking in there until eventually the gym is your happy place and those fit people are your friends and you know what to do with that equipment. 
• Shutting up that inner voice that tells you that you're tired, or you're fat, or you won't be successful. 

Even after these many months, these are all things that challenge me still.  Just today in step class, I felt tired and like I hadn't eaten enough prior to coming to class.  My inner voice listed all the reasons that I wouldn't be able to make it through class half-way in. It told me that I was too tired, too hungry, too sore, etc, winding me up until I almost gave up....then I recognized it for what it was and told it to SHUT UP!

I'm not super woman, but I've learned that even a former couch potato like me can endure. The secret is to simply quit thinking about all the reasons not to, or who's looking at you, or any of the other various things that our minds can craft to hold us back.  Miracles can happen when you tell that inner nay-sayer to SHUT UP.