We can do hard things.

I recently read “Untamed” by Glennon Doyle, and there is one line from the book that gets replayed in my brain constantly.

“We can do hard things.”

Essentially it means that yes, I can do the hard things. But so can everyone else. We’re all doing hard things, whether we know it or not. My hard thing is not the same as your hard thing, but what matters is we’re both living in that uncomfortable feeling of doing the hard work and we’re both surviving.

My hard thing right now is my health.

I woke up one day last month, and I couldn’t button my shorts. Shorts I had only purchased the previous summer. Guys, I have worn the same size since high school so the fact that an article of clothing just didn’t fit was a little jarring. I have never dieted. I have never prioritized exercise. I simply don’t eat a lot (but I eat and drink whatever I like), and I have been intermittent fasting since before it was cool. Yes, I’m heavier. I hate what two pregnancies and the subsequent two c-sections have done to my stomach. But my clothes have always still fit, and I could hide whatever I was self-conscious about.

Until they didn’t. And that was hard.

I weighed myself that morning, something I don’t normally do, and the number that looked back at me was scary. But to be honest, none of that was overly difficult. What I decided to do about it, though… that has been my hard thing.

I started riding the Peloton again. Every ride is a hard thing. Every step out to the gym is a hard thing. I am not naturally inclined to exercise, or even sweat. I just don’t like it. On Monday, though, I rode my 100th ride. Century Club. I cried when I finished, because that was the first milestone in this hard journey to a healthier me. It’s something I wanted, and worked for, just to see that little badge on my profile and get a free t-shirt in the mail. It sounds silly, but I did all of that solely for me.

In the last 23 days, I have rode that bike that goes nowhere over 111 miles. Even more, I signed up for the Indy 500 Virtual Challenge where I have registered to ride 500 miles before the year finally changes to 2021. And you know what? I think I’ll do it.

I’m counting calories, tracking my meals, and weighing my food. Everything about that feels just inherently wrong for me, but that’s okay. I’m nowhere near perfect, because 1,480 calories is not a lot, but I’m doing the hard thing. I’m taking charge of my own life one macro at a time.

It’s all hard. Living unhappy with your body is hard, doing something about it is hard, but we can do hard things. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

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What is your hard thing today?