Forget It

Oftentimes, we forget. We forget who we are, who we once were, the progress we have made, the effort and struggle it took to get where we are, the opportunities afforded us, the people who helped us, etc. Being back on the bike after a year of not riding has reminded me of this and of the fact that we also tend to go easy once we have reached a certain point or when things get a little tougher. Just tonight, I was 2mph faster and took a full minute off my previous fastest time. Yes, I was sore. Yes, my legs burned. Yes, I was tired. But I simply told myself to push through it.
We never accomplish anything when we take it easy. We never break barriers when we coast through life. We never accomplish anything when we settle for what we know we can do. Part of success is finding your limits and going beyond them. We are only capable of what we tell ourselves we can do. Many times, most times, we handicap and defeat ourselves from the start by what we tell ourselves. "I cant do it. It's too hard. It's too long. It's too much. It's too hot, too cold. I'm too weak." We tell ourselves it is always "too" something, but we never say "It's too easy."
In the Army, where I learned most of my life lessons, we have two phrases: "No excuse" and "Too easy." An excuse is an explanation you use to justify failure, lackluster performance, not giving 100, etc. So when the Sgt. asks you why, "No excuse Sgt." They teach us to go beyond what we ever thought we could. In the Army, that point beyond your limits where you never thought you could go, THAT is your baseline, your MINIMUM. So, in the face of an obstacle or insurmountable odds, when you think you can't take anymore or go any further, your only reply is "Too easy Sgt." We have hundreds of excuses why not, when all we need is one reason why. Instead of hundreds of excuses, the only things we should be thinking is No Excuse and Too Easy. If you deny yourself the excuses and tell yourself you can, you will, and that it's too easy, IT WILL BE.
We forget this. In forgetting this, we forget the work and determination it took to get there. We begin to take it easy. We slow down. We push less. We feel entitled to more progress simply because at a previous point, we pushed hard. Your life is a mountain, and over the years, you are climbing that mountain. Some never climb it. Some climb to a certain point and stop. Some go all the way to the top. The thing is, the mountain itself never gets easier to climb. YOU just get stronger. But, you only get stronger if you continue to climb and push yourself.
No one goes through life without someone at some point doing something, a helping hand, a guide, a shoulder, an open door, a recommendation, something. We tend to forget those people. We succeed, we progress, we improve, and we look back and say, "Look what I did." But at some point, if someone hadn't done something, we wouldn't have done that. For my part, I had forgotten, for the past few months, God's part in my life. I began to have success, I began to improve, God began to show me clips of what could be if I stayed humble and focused. For my part, I began to look back and say, "Look at all I have done." For a short time, I focused on what I thought I had done instead of what God has allowed me to do. Many doors would have remained closed had God not opened them. Many opportunities would have never presented themselves had He not allowed them to. We forget God in our lives until we need Him for something. We forget the people in our lives until we need them for something. We are all guilty of it.
The entire point is that we forget all the things that have gotten us and get us where we are. We remind ourselves of tv show times and game scores and song lyrics and celebrity relationships and so on, but we forget the very things that propel us forward in life, only to stand by and wonder why we aren't moving. Forget the scores and the show times and whatever else, and let's focus on the only two things that actually matter, there is NO EXCUSE, and it's TOO EASY.