In exploring the connection of mind, body and spirit, I am a bit fascinated by the moment of surrender. It’s not from a morbid sense of curiosity, but more from the vantage of why does it happen when it happens. What causes us to stop? To relent? To “No mas” a la Roberto Duran? It can certainly depend on the activity in question.
The genesis of my fascination has nothing to do with obsessing over having given up at some point. We all end up at that place one way or the other. I want to figure out why it happens and then get better at pushing past that moment if possible… well, provided it’s an activity I give a damn about. It’s not like I am going to study like a medieval monk to master the art of eating broken glass or some crazy nonsense like that.
So at the moment where it all comes apart, I want to know why. An example may be in order:
Think of someone deep in physical training of some kind or another. Perhaps it’s a powerlifter constantly seeking to move bigger and bigger weights or, at the opposite end of the training spectrum, the marathoner who conditions herself to run for 26.2 freaking miles. (Umm, as you can tell, I am blown away by long distance runners because I cannot imagine trying to run that damn far).
For either of these individuals, which will usually quit first? The mind as it obsesses over each pound or each mile? The spirit as the will to go prove something wanes in the face of greater and greater physical demand? Or will it simply be the body reaching some point of pure capability when one more pound or one more step is completely impossible?
In these cases, I find it is usually much less about the body and a lot more about some combination of the mind or spirit. The body can accept an inordinate amount of physical work (for periods of time, mind you) provided the mind sees some value/end goal and the spirit stay strong. The trick is to keep those things well in mind.
What about a test of the mind? Does this change the equation at all in terms of the weak link from the body/mind/spirit continuum? Possibly. I think of people pulling all-nighters where their only limit is pure physical exhaustion (or running out of caffeinated beverages). That being said, I am still tend to think mind and spirit may give out before the body. The all-too-common declaration of “Good God, I think my brain is full…” jumps to mind for me, likely because I have uttered it a few times when deep in study back in law school.
In the end, I think that the greatest bang-for-your-buck in learning to push past previous points of failure is more of a mental and spiritual challenge, even if the activity you are seeking to improve is primarily physical. Take Michael Jordan – physically gifted? Definitely. But Michael Jordan did not become MICHAEL JORDAN because of his physical gifts… it was because of an absolutely indomitable will to win. He was just plain mentally tougher than anyone else on the court. Period.
And how do you build your will? Great question. For myself, I am going to take it in 2 parts since I need work on this as does… ohh… pretty much everyone. First, pick some activity that is about discipline and work on it. Second, build up this activity sloooowly. For instance, I want to be better about developing this blog, so starting next week, I am getting up 30-45 minutes earlier in the morning to write posts, comment on other blogs, do Twitter, etc. It’s not earth-shattering, but it requires extra discipline and sometimes there is something cool about doing a hard, lonely thing. You need to do it slowly in order to notch up a few successes along the way. If you are working on running a marathon, maybe you start doing a few of your runs at the crack of dawn or purposefully at the end of a really long day for the sheer purpose of knowing your mind will rebel mid-way through your run and will begin to rationalize why cutting it short and heading home for “American Idol” is really not that bad because you can run tomorrow.
Pick your hard lonely thing. Tell yourself you just need to push through it ONE time and then do it. A few days later? Do it again. Let the momentum build and the will shall follow.
Be fierce. Be mighty. Above all else, just give it a shot so you at least know you didn’t let a chance for something better slide on by.