If you are reading this then you are, in fact, alive. But if you are reading this and you were part of the Fit2Fight class at Versus Fitness, and you participated in the workout and finished it, I would have to say you are more alive than those who did not. (you may be dead exhausted but that is not my point)

What makes us alive? What gives us life? How do we get the most out of life? Hey! Relax one question at a time. A quote from the movie “Hitch” said, “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.” Sounds kinda of romantic but tonight’s workout was anything but romantic.To go back to the quote, people WERE taking a number of breaths and as the moments ticked by, it was apparent SOMETHING was taking their breath away.

There was a lot of emotion in the room. Anger, desperation, regret, thoughts of failure, surrender and despair. People’s wills were being tested as they stared at the list of uncompleted tasks on the wall every time they made their laps back. So what makes us alive? The struggle, the strife, the grind gives us life. The ability to keep moving forward, sometimes fast, sometimes a crawl.Remember, frustration can be good, it means you’re uncomfortable. It means you’re in the growing stage. We work out of the lows and enjoy the highs.Sitting complacent and comfortable is nice but once you stop fighting I believe you stop living.

What does all this have to do with working out? It has everything to do with working out. Doing some exercise no matter what you’re doing is a fight. You fight with yourself everytime you think about working out whether you’re going for a run, to the gym or to jiu jitsu or kickboxing class. SOmetimes it’s an easy fight sometimes it is a struggle.It all comes down to motivation.

Your body and mind due to years of evolution will always choose the path of least resistance. Your mind will turn on you, tell you to quit, it will give you very real and valid reasons to pause or stop. It will “turn on” aches and pains in your body, suddenly you remember you have to get home to “do something”, all of sudden you remember how comfy your couch or bed is. These are all mechanisms of the mind to save your energy and wear and tear on your body.

It’s Fight or Flight and everyone fought tonight. It wasn’t pretty but none of you gave up. From the looks of it, all of you that participated tonight, indeed had these thoughts.I know the idea of “just quit” entered your mind. I don’t know if what kept you going was me yelling “Let’s go” or the thought of being strong for your newborn or the goal you set for yourself that you want so bad. The right motivation is what will push you through it or sometimes pull you through the struggle. Turn off that flight option. You are all fighters. You all have what it takes. Be better every day. This is marathon not a sprint, keep moving forward and never give up. I look forward to seeing you all on the mat working toward your goals

I’ll leave you with this great time traveling quote I saw. Think about it and see how you feel.
“When I’m scared to tackle an obstacle, I close my eyes and pretend im an 80 year old man who regrets not tackling all the obstacles he wanted to in life. Then when I feel like that old man, I say to myself, “I wish I was young again”, then I open my eyes….And BOOM! I’m young again.” ~ Hopsin