THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Have you worked so hard for something that you felt was reachable and you were so determined, come hell or high water to get it, but for reasons you couldn’t quite explain it eluded you? 

You just couldn’t figure out how or why. The doubt starts to set in. Did you really do everything you could. The little voice in your head goes off on a tangent and starts eating away at the very fibre of your being, pushing you to ever closer to your breaking point. It just eats you up inside.

You’re probably wondering Why the hell I am I telling you all this?

Let me explain.

For a long time I tried so hard and pushed myself to reach a new level of skill, strength and durability when it came to my training. (Especially martial arts and believe me, I’m still constantly striving and pushing to reach new plateaus). All in the pursuit of reaching a “higher level.”

The hours, weeks and months I spent hitting my heavy bag with my bare fists. That’s right ladies and gents, no gloves, mitts, hand/wrist wraps. No damn protection whatsoever. Just skin coming into contact with vinyl.

The storm within me raging. The intention was crystal clear.

I wanted to make my fists like iron. I wanted to develop the power in my punches to the best that was humanly possible for me.

Note: I don’t claim to have the greatest, most powerful punch in the world, nor do I care to. I simply want to train my body to the best I can get it.

For a long time my hands would bruise, turn red and the skin would tear. (If you didn’t get the picture already. Yeah it dang well hurt a lot too).

At first I would throw in the towel and walk away. Let the hand heal, I figured. 3-4 days later I’d be out again doing the same thing.

Slowly my pain threshold grew and I endured more, lasting longer and longer each time, but it still wasn’t good enough. (At least to me at the time). No matter what I did the pain would be too great to deal with and I felt disappointed. If only there was a way to manage it. To work through it.

One particular day as I walked out into my garden to hit the heavy bag, expecting the usual to inevitably happen, I started up, took my stance and began hammering away at the bag. Sure enough the pain started to develop with the onslaught and flurry of my punches.

But then suddenly a weird, unexplainable calmness filled my body and mind. Suddenly, I really didn’t care about how hard my punches were, or how much it hurt.

I didn’t care anymore and that’s when the magic happened. It was as if my body shut out the pain, all the thoughts, feelings and emotions. All the reasons for hitting the bag become insignificant. It was as if I’d been able to let go of all the things holding me back.

I lost track of time, space, maybe even reality. Nothing mattered. I continued pounding away at the bag, with no thought. No emotion.

When your mind becomes so clear. So empty. When you become immersed in the movements and actions. 

It feels strange writing this and was insane at the time. But I’d actually found peace in the fact that I didn’t care about reaching my goal or anything for that matter.

I ended up having one of the best power bag sessions I’ve ever experienced and at the end of it my knuckles weren’t bruised. There were no cuts, blood or any trace of swelling/inflammation.

Just a bit of redness over the knuckles, which was to be expected. It was about 10 mins or so after I’d finished working on the bag, that the pain finally registered. But it didn’t hurt as much as it had on previous occasions.

It’s an odd feeling that I can’t explain. I just like to call it “THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM EFFECT.” And man is it wonderful. (You’ll only be able to relate to this when you experience it for yourself).

You’re probably thinking cool story but what’s the whole point of it?

Well, keep your shirt on we’re getting to the good stuff.

If you want to take your training to the next level, the answer doesn’t always lie in consciously forcing yourself to add more weight or grind out more reps. Just try to connect and flow with the movement. (Easier said than done, right?).

That’s why before every training session I mediate to eliminate all the useless garbage that floats around in the mind. I also do it before I start each and every day. It’s a very empowering feeling.

Sometimes you’ve got to completely free your mind of every darn thought and feeling towards every damn thing you’ve worked so hard for. It sounds bloody insane, and it’s downright difficult, but not impossible.

I believe when you’re pushed to a certain threshold, a certain level of mental and physical stress, (that more often than not is self created), due to the intense desire and longing  inside of you to reach a goal.

Eventually you’ll likely reach the tipping point and lose track of said goal. You just won’t care about achieving it anymore. When you get to that point, your breaking point, your limit, that’s when crazy things happen. That’s how I experienced it.

It’s like the more you think and strive for something the further it gets from you. (Sounds like a damn paradox).

LET THAT SINK IN FOR A SECOND. RE-READ IT AGAIN IF YOU HAVE TO!!!

Let me give you another example you’ve probably heard of this situation occurring dozens of times. Heck, maybe it’s even happened to you.

Ever been in a situation where you lost your house or car keys. You get all pent up and frustrated looking for the sucker and you just can’t find it anywhere. Then you forget about it, you just stop thinking about it and then presto, out of nowhere you end up finding it. Usually they were right where you left them, in plain sight.

The point is, when you block out all your desires and thoughts and learn to stop being overly consumed by your goal, you’d probably end up reaching it a lot sooner and with a lot less hassle and stress.

Don’t take that the wrong way, you still obviously have to work hard and strive to achieve your goals, but when it takes over you to the point that you lose sight of everything else, particularly your enjoyment in life. You’re probably over obsessing.

We’ve got a tendency to over think and analysis everything. It does nothing except complicate situations and lead to unnecessary stress and anxiety, making things harder than they need to be.

Hey!! “Sometimes you’ve got to take a step back to move two steps forward.”

MIND-BOGGLING, ISN’T IT?

ACUITY AND MENTALITY