Welcome to the Grind

It's 6:00 AM and your hand can't make it to the alarm clock before the voices in your head start telling you that it's too early, too dark, and too cold to get up out of bed. Aching muscles lie still in rebellion, pretending not to hear your brain commanding them to move. A legion of voices are shouting their unanimous permission for you to hit the snooze button and go back to dreamland. But you didn't ask their opinion. . A voice that said there was a reason you set that alarm in the first place. So sit up, put your feet on the floor, and don't look back because we've got work to do.

Welcome to the Grind.

For what is each day but a series of conflicts between the right way and the easy way. 10,000 streams fan out like a river delta before you, each one promising the path of least resistance. The thing is, you're headed upstream. When you make that choice, and you decide to turn your back on what's comfortable, and safe, and what some would call common sense, well that's Day One.

From there it only gets tougher. So just make sure this is something you want, because the easy way out will always be there, ready to wash you away. All you have to do is pick up your feet.

But you aren't going to, are you?

With each step comes the decision to take another. You're on your way now, but this is no time to dwell on how far you've come. you're in a fight against an opponent you can't see, but oh you can feel him on your heels, can't you. Feel him breathing down your neck. You know what that is? That's you. . While they're not easily defeated they are far from invincible.

Remember, this is the grind, the battle royal between you and your mind, your body, and the devil on your shoulder whose telling you that this is just a game, this is just a waste of time.

Your opponents are stronger than you. . .

Remember what you're fighting for and never forget that momentum is a cruel mistress. She can turn on a dime or the smallest mistake. She is ever searching for the weak place in your armor, that one tiny thing you forgot to prepare for.

So as long as the devil is hiding the details, the question remains, is that all you got? Are you sure? When that answer is yes, when you've done all you can to prepare yourself for battle. Then it's time to go forth and boldly face your enemy. The enemy within.

Only now you must take that fight into the open, into hostile territory. You're a lion in a field of lions, all hunting the same elusive prey with a desperate starvation that says,

"Victory is the only thing that can keep you alive."

So Rise and Shine.