Inspired

Now that the summer olympics is in full swing, I was noticing that I have two very opposite responses to the athletes. One side of me says, "wow, their ambition and training is amazing...if I applied myself and had more discipline, maybe I would realize that I can do more than I think." The other side of me says "don't be silly...you are nothing like those people and never will be."

These thoughts come up for me from time to time on the yoga mat as well. There are times that I wonder where my edge might really be and how my practice may evolve if I stay with it...and then there are times that I am faced with a pose that is beyond my ability, and thoughts like "how can you even call yourself a yoga teacher if you can't do that?" somehow surface. How can I work on gaining new skills and feel good about my efforts and progress, while also recognizing my limitations and simply be ok with that?

The Olympic athletes are to be admired and appreciated for their tireless training. Even if I am not an Olympian (and trust me...I know I never will be!!) I can still choose to do some small things to be healthy and to try to be my best on and off the mat each day. Maybe I will do some balance poses or some ABS crunches while I watch the next event. Just because I am not competing in the Olympic games doesn't mean I can't imagine what it might be like to work hard and realize a dream.