Almost all sports can teach you about patience, persistence, hard work, discipline and the ability to achieve great things and push yourself to break new boundaries with the aid of these skills but I truly do feel that when you enter into the sphere of endurance sport, you open up a whole new world of lessons and opportunities for growth and challenge.
Cycling for up to 24 hours has given me a virtual reality replica of life as we know it – it becomes a training ground for the challenges and struggles that we face in everyday life. When you ride for that long, you go through waves of emotions, experiences, thoughts and physical sensations; you face inner demons you didn’t know were there along with the ones you tried to sweep under the rug. Just as you feel physically or emotionally strong and stable, the tide turns and you can be suddenly overwhelmed with troublesome feelings and physical pain and discomfort. But the best part about that is that you know the tide will soon turn again and you will hit a peak instead of a trough.
You are taught not to become attached to anything you experience because it too will pass; both the good and the bad. You are not defined by the pain in your legs or the fear and doubt in your mind – they are simply part of the human condition. Instead, you learn to transcend the physical, mental and emotional challenges and realise that you are more than these things, you are pure consciousness in the depths of a human experience and only you can decide where the ceiling of your world is. Either you can allow your mind, body and emotions to define and limit this experience or you can use them as vessels of knowledge and pathways to growth and progress.
We are not our bodies – they are simply the mortal vessels that allow us to experience all that the world has to offer – and boy, are they pretty fantastic. We judge either ourselves or others by the flesh and bones we carry around with us as if they are a mark of our worth and ability; we should instead be in awe and filled with gratitude for what these living-and-breathing machines are capable of. I am the first one to admit to being guilty in this department and it needs to be a continual and conscious effort to override this habitual behaviour.
I am so incredibly proud of what this body has accomplished and allowed me to do. It took me across 270km of my country powered by nothing more than my legs and lungs; it endured 22 hours of physical activity and sleep deprivation, feeling almost like it was thriving on the challenge and transcending to a different plane of existence. Instead of looking in the mirror and wishing for that six-pack or noticing the extra kilogram on the scale, today I stand tall with my head held high because my body is a luxury sports car AND a rugged 4x4 capable of going anywhere and doing anything.
We are not our minds – our thoughts and emotions and ego do not need to define our earthly experience. The sooner we learn to disassociate from these things, the more peaceful our life will be. When we think we aren’t good enough or that we can’t accomplish something, we are lowering the ceiling and blocking the sun even more. We should be in control of our minds and not the other way around – just like our bodies, our minds are simply tools to help us in our human journey. Our thoughts should be like keys, if we put the right one in the door, it will unlock and allow us to gain entry into somewhere we wish to visit. Instead of fumbling with a box of loose and random keys and never knowing which one is which, we should slowly but surely eliminate those that don’t work and keep the ones that do.
When we start to learn how to use the tools we come into this world with, we realise that the possibilities are truly endless. Our experience can be as difficult and stressful or as peaceful and wonderful as we allow it to be. If your look after your tools, they will serve you well.
Despite whispering ‘never again’ to myself during the darkest moments of my first ultramarathon, I know that it could not possibly be my last. As with most cathartic experiences, it took a while afterwards to step back, look at the big picture and process all that I gained from what I voluntarily put myself through. In truth, the processing will continue for a long time as there is so much extract from that one day alone.
I cannot wait for the next time I am privileged enough to step that deeply within my divine self; it truly was a beautiful juxtaposition of ecstasy and agony and the most fitting metaphor for life.
Please go and check out part 1 of this post to read more about my journey! :)
Earth child
Spiritual warrior
Mountain biking explorer
Lover of wisdom
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