I Almost Didn’t Go

It was raining this morning and I’m not gonna lie, I almost bailed. My routine is simple, I move first thing every day regardless of conditions. I got up, threw some clothes on, and hit 30 hard minutes on the bike. It felt great and I easily could have stopped there and called it a win. But part of my process is the daily walk, and that’s where the negotiation started. It was raining hard, the kind of rain where you already know nobody else is going to be outside. No umbrella, cold air, wet pavement, all the convenient excuses lined up perfectly. I started telling myself I’d just skip it today. One day doesn’t matter. I already worked out. Then I paused and asked a better question, what is actually the worst thing that can happen? I get wet. That was the honest answer. So I bundled up, stepped outside, and committed. And the worst thing happened. I got wet. Outside of that, it was phenomenal.

About five minutes into the walk it hit me that the real challenge was never the rain, it was leaving the house. There was nothing about that 45 minutes in a cold, wet Charlotte morning that was remotely uncomfortable compared to what many people on this planet are dealing with right now. It’s perspective. If you’ve ever trained with me you’ve heard me repeat the same line, look at what we get. We get opportunity today. I don’t just say that for motivation, I say it because it’s true. It is a privilege to move your body. As inconvenient as rain feels, there is someone somewhere who would give anything to walk, squat, lunge, stand, or simply step outside on their own. We get so locked into our own bubble that we forget the scale of that blessing. Life is meant to be experienced, not avoided, and today is another chance to create more opportunities tomorrow. No amount of perceived discomfort compares to real hardship, and every single time I finish that walk I feel the same clarity, gratitude, and energy. I am always glad I did it. Today I almost traded that feeling for comfort and that’s what stood out the most.

This morning reinforced a simple truth. The hardest part is almost always getting started. Most people don’t fail because they lack ability, they fail because they wait for motivation as if motivation has to show up before action. In reality it works the other way around. You create motivation by doing. My only goal this morning was putting clothes on, not finishing the walk, not enjoying it, just start. Once that happened the outcome was inevitable because inertia takes over. You cannot walk if you never put your shoes on. You cannot train if you never show up. You cannot change your life if you never begin. The next time resistance shows up, don’t focus on the finish line and don’t worry about how you’ll feel halfway through. Focus on the first step. Open the door. If you woke up today, you’ve already been given an opportunity. The only decision left is whether you’ll use it.