No Second Chances

“No second chances.”

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These days one of my favorite ways to get a sweat on is at a fabulous spinning studio here in Austin called Ride. Having never been naturally athletic, I hadn’t really thought of myself as the spinning type. After a friend kept insisting I give it a try, I am now officially hooked. Lately I’ve been referring to Ride as “yoga for athletes” because despite the intensity of the classes, the entire 45 minutes makes you feel uplifted, encouraged, and inspired. The instructors use the music and remind Ride-ers that what happens in there can be taken out into the rest of our life. Life can be really really really hard and we get to pick our response. We get to pick how hard we climb up the hill, how much fun we have doing it, and whether we talk kindly to or are hard on ourselves through the process. I love being reminded of that and feel inspired being in a group of people dedicated to the same things.

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Last week I was in a bit of a funk. I was having difficulty being present, feeling sad and getting frustrated with myself for not understanding what was going on or knowing how to make myself feel better. (Side note: be nice to yourself when you aren’t where you think you should be! Because…you are where you are and that means you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be. And, chances are we are where we are to learn a little more lessons around that area. I was fighting this bi-ig time!)

In attempt to sort through what was going on, I hermit-ed up a bit thinking I needed alone time. It didn’t help. So I got in some girl time. Loved it. Had a conversation and was reminded that there were a few things I’ve been putting off dealing with because I didn’t want to deal with potential conflict (I haaate conflict) and as a result had been dragging my feet in other areas of my life. That conversation got me into a little spiral of extra productivity. It felt GOOD. I was encouraged. Then, I showed up at Ride and the theme of that class was “no second chances”. We don’t get them. We don’t get a second chance to put 100% into that workout. We don’t get a second chance to put our best foot forward in that job interview or at work. We don’t get a second chance to be ourselves in front of that boy or girl we’re crushing on. We don’t get a second chance to make the people in our lives feel special. We will never ever ever get any moment back again.

Every day our 100% isn’t going to be the same – it’s just not possible. As a friend jokingly reminded me recently as I began a run sprinting up a hill: every day isn’t race day. And that’s okay. I think there’s a 100% within that non-race-day that we can put out every day and that’s where I am. Thank you, Ride, for un-funk-ing me and for my newest mantra: no second chances.