I Am Nothing Without My Dreams: #31

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”

2 Corinthians 4:16-17 verse

Blog Post #31

It takes more than me to be able to maintain my pace. This journey to losing weight has morphed into the journey to achieve success across multiple areas in my life. Although my videos and blogs have been from a “me first” perspective, trust when I tell you that I have a lot of others who have contributed to my effort. My good friend, who initially challenged me to get back on track was at the gym when I finished today’s Big Run. I told him I just ran 3.8 miles. He asked, “how do you feel?” “Pretty good,” I said. Then he says, “well hey, come work out with us!” I realized I had no excuse that would fly in on this occasion, so after running almost 4 miles in over an hour, I then underwent another hour of weight lifting and resistance training.

I remember just looking at the weights at some point during the workout because there was nothing in me that was saying I could do it. There he was in the background saying “Come on Louis Riley,” and in my sarcastic undertone I said, “yeah, yeah, yeah….” You see, its moments like this when you learn to appreciate how the mind controls the body. I had so many thoughts of I can’t running through my head, until it was slowing me down. I kept looking for a reason to accept the “I can’t” as my truth, but nothing would stick. I knew from a place deep inside that at least, it was possible…and if it is possible, then why not try. I pushed through fatigue and soreness and I completed the workout. I must admit, I would not have pushed myself as much if I were exercising alone. ‘

In every effort of success, we need to be certain we keep certain people around us who can see our lighter side and not settle for our darkeness. We all need someone in our circle who pushes us to become great. We need that someone who believes in us even when we may not believe in ourselves. I have a few people in my life who fit this description. I would supposed I am fortunate to have them. However, it sometimes takes a lot of swallowing my ego. As I state in the video associated with this entry, I have a rather high opinion of myself. When you tell me I can’t, I automatically think I can. When you doubt me, I want to prove you wrong. So when I hear criticism, like many, my first reaction is to push it aside because I feel like I am being attacked. However, I am built for success. I know that these people come from a sincere place. I listen to their opinions and I then allow it to run through my mental process so that I can pull the lessons I was supposed to learn.

Sometimes when we drop our ego, we will learn the it was standing in the way of what we really need in our lives….

Dreams Mean Work!