Push Your Limits
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My body knocked against the door, pushing it open. I stepped inside and at once the tired (more like TIRED) hit me. Ripples of exhaustion worked down my arms and legs. I hadn’t felt the ache until after I’d decided I was done, after I had gone back home, and stopped long enough to realize how worn out I was.
I had almost backed out two hours before. I hadn’t done anything all day and by the time 6 p.m. rolled around, I didn’t feel like changing that. I hadn’t felt like going, but I did. And once I was there, I pushed my limits. The hour of Aero Silks, which involved climbing and spinning and stretching—and, yeah some screaming—made me feel utterly exhausted and completely alive.
During last semester, my two closest friends had challenged me to try Aero Silk. In Peru we call it telas. I’d never been interested in climbing the stretchy neon green strip of fabric tied up in their backyard, but after reading books like Love Does by Bob Goff and Young and Beardless by John Luke Robertson, we had all decided to stop dreaming and start doing. Our ‘doing’ began simply enough: challenge ourselves and each other to try new and different things during our Christmas break.
So now here I was, a girl whose workout level is usually negative, but now my arms ached, joints in my fingers ached (how does that even happen?), and everything felt sore. What was the point? Why did I get out of bed, turn of the TV, and push my limits? Why bother doing hard things or trying new things when we know we’ll fail?
We try because we learn from failing. We grow when we stretch ourselves outside of our sweet little comfort zone. We succeed when we push our limits.
How can you push past your limits today? Why don’t you bike somewhere different? Or use Duolingo to learn a new language. Read a book you wouldn’t usually pick up—something beyond your favorite genre.
PUSH YOUR LIMITS—and do something great.
