The courage in the face of adversity. That’s what fortitude is, and before I personally dive into it, you deserve credit for exhibiting it, too. This past 15 months has been nothing but consistent physical and mental adversity for most of us, and now as we start to enter the clear, don’t be afraid to give yourself props for working through it all.
In the time since my last post, this has been a word that has stood out to me time and time again. At most times I’ve carried fortitude with me, and at other times I’ve lost it completely. So, once I found the words to express these thoughts I’ve gained from my experiences, the first thing I wanted to do was share them with you.
As you may know from previous posts and expressions, the last 18 months have been riddled with adversity and challenges for me. I feel like I’ve carried myself through, but never just by myself. I have always been someone to manifest my own energy, and I think a lot of that comes from my relationships with other people. I don’t need coffee or tea to get out of bed in the morning, and I don’t need soda or alcohol to stay up all night. I get naturally excited to do those things when I get to experience my time with others, and I’ve identified that as what’s gotten me through.
This is a concept I’ve written about before, both in ‘Build Your Village’ (Build Your Village – Super 8 (thesuper8.blog)) and ‘Inner Star’ (Inner Star – Super 8 (thesuper8.blog)). But, I’ve recently actually seen it at work first hand, and that’s a special feeling. There are two goals when it comes to who you surround yourself with: 1) They make you a better person and 2) You make them better people. That’s it. God sends you people and messages through those people every day to help impact who you are. You get the challenge of deciphering who those people are and what they’re trying to add to your life.
Recently, I didn’t really have the need to decipher because my examples have been directly within my family. They’ve put on three individual rock star performances when it comes to the concept of fortitude.
In the past four years, my younger brother has overcome two concussions, two back fractures, surgery on a torn labrum, and an elbow scope to play his senior year of baseball. There were both questions around whether there would even be a season as well as if he would ever personally play again. That was a pretty special thing to witness, especially after being privy to the struggle he endured for years.
Just before that, my parents both set the tone by completing the 75 Hard Challenge by Andy Frisella. That means for 75 straight days you have to complete these 5 Rules:
- Two 45-minute workouts each day, at least 3 hours apart, one outdoors and one indoors.
- Sticking to a diet of your choice. No alcohol, desserts, or cheat meals.
- Taking a progress picture daily.
- Drinking 1 gallon of water each day.
- Reading 10 pages in a self-development and/or entrepreneurial book each day.
Failure to do any of those things results in having to start over back at Day 1.
The beauty of the challenge is that I could see both physical and mental changes in both, but I think the coolest thing about it all is that they’d never tell you unless you asked.
The other piece of both of those anecdotes is how I had a small hand in both. I know that my actions and habits as a person helped to propel each of them to do what they did to some, small extent. And in turn, they returned the favor and have inspired me since. I’ve dealt with injuries, issues, and uncertainties, but I’ve drawn inspiration to keep moving forward from the people around me. I always have, and I always will.
That is the personification of the concepts I’ve talked about for so long. Those are the people in life that we are blessed with that we need to learn things from to help build ourselves up. It’s imperative. It’s a purpose of humanity.
The Bible tells us we are created in God’s image, which means that there’s at least one trait and one message from God in all of us. When you find those people that grace you with gifts of inspiration, welcome them. Seek advice, ask questions, have conversations, imitate their goodness, and build your fortitude together.
Congratulations to you for enduring everything this year has thrown at you. Take the time to reflect on that, and feel good about it. Nobody is immune from those feelings of struggle, and we often times decline the pride that comes from triumph. Don’t be afraid to bask in the glory to yourself sometimes, too.
There is no greater success than success in the face of adversity. I’m proud of you, keep going.
Talk soon,
Bryce
Super 8 