Holes - meditations on change and pain

You know what?  Right now I can barely type.  My arms feel as if they belong to someone else entirely.  Why?  Well, Nick, the instructor at my little local gym, had devised me a new set of programmes and today was my first upper body session.  I’m using mainly free weights now although he snuck in a killer series on the TRX.  Ouch.  Ouch. Ouch.

Anyhow, it’s all good.  No, I’m not a masochist, well, not more than anyone else really, but if you want to progress, you have to mix things up.  If you carry on doing the same thing, year in, year out, nothing changes. 

My routine was fine, nothing wrong with it, and it was keeping me at a base level of fitness.  But I wanted even firmer, leaner arms; I wanted a stronger back and abs.  So, then, I had to move out of my comfort zone into something…more challenging. 

Of course, this goes for anything in life really, not just fitness.  But change can be frightening.  It’s easy doing what we’ve always done, isn’t it?  Sure you can coast and, if you’re happy where you are, doing what you’re doing, then that’s all fine and dandy.  But if you’re not…well… You have to try something different.

And that reminded me of a poem Mangalo read out at the end of a yoga class at Yobaba Lounge.  I hadn’t heard it before and it made me smile.  It’s very simple (as the best things usually are) and it’s uncomfortably true. 

So, for all who find themselves in holes…here it is. 

There’s a hole in my sidewalk by Portia Nelson

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost... I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in the same place.
But, it isn't my fault.
It still takes me a long time to get out.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in. It's a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault. I get out immediately.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

I walk down another street.”