ebb and flow

You can’t be in the olympics everyday.

Have you ever watched a highly trained athlete in a major competition?  Truly an inspirational sight to behold.  Zero body fat, toned sculpted muscles, laser beam focus and energy to spare.  But it is simply a wonderful moment in time.  High level athletes cannot possibly keep this level of perfection every day of their lives.  It is the result of a well planned “peak”.  You cannot run a full marathon every day.  You’d be exhausted and probably injure yourself.  Worst of all you’d probably start hating marathons.  You would have drummed out all your enthusiasm too.  You’d get up in the morning and think….oh NO…I have to run another marathon today.  ugh….

However, we live our lives like we’re in the olympics everyday.  We expect our bodies to be perfect all the time. We never allow for a softening…of mind or muscle.  We chastise ourselves for an extra cookie or if we sleep in later and miss the trip to the gym.  We start to blame and punish ourselves for perceived laziness.  What is it about our culture that doesn’t allow for the ebb and flow of life?  Sometimes we have a little less energy than the day before.  We are taught to plow through and push harder instead of listening to ourselves.  There is no time to recharge.  Eastern cultures and yoga sages teach that sometimes rest and stillness are needed more than power and charge.  The wisest learn to ride the waves.  That way when the olympics of life are approaching, you can really bring it.