Sunday Story…The Burning Question

You know what you must do to get what you want…no matter what the “what” is. A better body? A healthier lifestyle? More education? You have done everything to set yourself up for success. Hired the right people. Did the planning, the goal setting, the visualizations. It’s all laid out for you. And yet something is missing. The something that will keep you on track. The something that will keep you on the path with ease and harmony. 

Yet you sabotage your progress. You make little microaggressions against your progress and your goals. Then those little things add up and become a full-blown train wreck. A couple of weeks later you are trying to pick up the pieces and wondering what happened.

The something isn’t willpower.  Willpower is a muscle, and like all muscles, it will fail when it is overworked. You can strengthen it but it will only get so strong and will only last so long before it fails.

The something isn’t discipline. Discipline may get you started every morning but it won’t and can’t defeat the strength of self-sabotage. When the fight is between your discipline and your habits against your desire to break rank and reach for that one thing that will send you spiraling down into the same place you have found yourself so many times before.

The answer is found in something so simple…when your desire for what you want outweighs the temporary pleasure of breaking your discipline you will stop reaching for that temporary respite.

Desire so great that it overwhelms any and all other considerations. Desire so great it awakens you in the middle of the night. Desire so great you could no more turn it off than you could stop a volcano from erupting.

Desire.

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

Sunday Story…The Thief

In your mind, unlike the thief on the street, is stealing your promise, not your purse.

Contemplate on that for just a moment. How many of us are allowing a burglar into the recesses of our brains to rummage around and steal whatever they choose? Would you let a stranger off the street into your home to do that? Or even someone you knew? 

You let the thief in your mind in the front door. Maybe you even welcomed them in thinking they were benign or even helpful. But then they turned on you and in the most insidious ways began to erode your self-confidence, your hopes, and dreams, and most of all your sense of wellbeing. That thief is sitting there in the chair you gave them and sucking up all your promise.

Why would you let that happen? You wouldn’t let a thief on the street grab your wallet or purse and run off with it, would you? So don’t let the thief in your mind make off with your promise…the promise of who you can be, the promise of the people you can serve, the promise of the world your can change, the promise of the love you can share.

The thief in your mind is a sneaky devil. We don’t even know he is there, or how he got there. But we need to incarcerate him someplace where he can no longer take what doesn’t belong to him. Kick him to the curb!

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

Sunday Story…To Know

And not do it is to not yet know.

 

You know what you need to do to:

Be healthier

Be more fit

Have less stress

Improve your life

 

Yet you aren’t doing it. Or more likely you are making a half-hearted effort. Starts and stops, blaming external events and obstacles when the real problem is simple: Lack of real commitment. That’s right, you know what to do but you aren’t really and truly committed to doing the things you need to do to get the results you really want.

 

Let’s be honest, the easy road is alluring. It’s easy. It doesn’t ask you to get up early, make better food choices, or be mindful about your rest and stress reduction. All the easy road asks of you is nothing really. Sit on the couch, drink too much, eat some crap, stay up late and repeat until you roll into an early grave.

 

Get off the fence. Fish or cut bait. Straddling the fence is uncomfortable at best and dangerous at worst. It is a waste of time and psychic energy. Sure, commitment looks scary but once you are in, be all in. Burn the boats, no plan b…all in.

 

If you know what to do, do it. If you aren’t sure, find out what it will take to be sure.

 

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Truth

 

These days it seems like reality is elastic. It seems to shift and change according to the needs and wants of the teller. The truth of any matter seems subject to interpretation.

 

But really truth isn’t subject to interpretation. It is called the “law of gravity” for a reason. It doesn’t change according to the whims of the watcher. What goes up comes down…every time. It doesn’t matter what belief system you ascribe to, your political party, or your astrological sign. If you drop it is going to fall. Simple and easy…no arguments and no interpretation.

 

But other things are not so immutable. Those things can be spun and tweaked to match the hopes and dreams of the people they are trying to reach. In those cases, the truth is not in evidence, only interpretation and opinion. These stories or legends stick much better than the bald truth. People want to believe them. And yes, some people want to be manipulated, especially if it fits into their world view.

 

I know gravity is true. I see it in action every day. It doesn’t change or shift according to the day of the week or who is looking at it. It is resilient and constant. Not everything is like this. The trick is recognizing the difference.

 

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412