STAYING POWER

SECOND WIND- TESTING & EXPLORING OUR CAPACITY TO DO THE IMPOSSIBLE.

The phenomenon Second Wind is mostly associated with long distance running but one that manifests itself in the overall human experience, like William James talked about. If you don’t know what Second Wind is here is a simple way to look at it- It is the new energy and strength that remains masked or hidden until we keep pressing forward in difficult moments and reach critical points, then suddenly or gradually it shows up and provides freshness and renewal better than we had when we started.

In our current cultural climate where we all want to and are encouraged to do what feels right to us in the moment and pursue what makes us happy, it is no wonder few of us have experienced Second Wind. For many of us difficulty and hard times are a sign from heaven, God, the universe that we are on the wrong lane which calls for change. The tricky thing is that this signal could be right. Hard times and difficulty can be an actual sign for us to change and stop, but we need to pay careful attention to our patterns and be honest with ourselves on whether we give up, stop or quit because we felt uncomfortable and stretched or because it was a truly unworthy cause.

Do you have staying power? Do you have the mental and emotional dexterity to stay on course come rain and sunshine?

The thing with Second Wind is that it only shows up when we persevere and stay on course when the journey gets tough and difficult and excruciating. And it shows up and reveals our capacity to be brave and strong and resilient. It reveals the truth that we are hardwired to do hard things and transcend the realm of what we believe to be possible.

It's twenty, twenty one and life is bizarre, surprising, new, scary, unpredictable- not that that's anything new. I think life has always possessed these characteristics but most of us bought into the illusion that life is stable and unchanging, so a pandemic world shines a new light. My point is, life is hard but you and I are also hardwired to deal with the hardness of life and transcend onto a state that helps us tap into the unimaginable.

Do you have staying power? Do you have the mental and emotional dexterity to stay on course come rain and sunshine? I want to be the type of person that has a wealth of Second Wind experiences and stories to tell of my life. But I think to be that person, I have to resist the temptation to interpret hardship, difficulty and uncomfortable experiences as signals that are telling me I am on the wrong lane, in the wrong fight, (job, city, country, relationship etc) and cultivate my staying power that will help me endure hardship long enough to endure testing and surpass my believe of what's truly possible.