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Thought of myself as Ryan Lochte this morning. Convinced myself I’m the sexiest man alive. Always have been, truth be told.
Out on Ocean Highway feeling tired and unmotivated and peddling my bike, I asked myself: “What would Ryan Lochte do?”
He would speed up, test himself mentally and physically. So I did.
I pedaled harder imagining myself being Ryan racing Michael Phelps in the 200-meter individual medley in China back in 2012. Ryan broke the world record that day. Still stands.
I pushed. Legs burned. Begged me for mercy.
What would Ryan do? I kept asking.
He would suffer through the pain because he wanted to be the best.
So I suffered. Breathing got harder. Legs were breaking down. Felt like they were on fire.
Kept going. Kept thinking about Ryan. What would he do?
The sexiest man alive can’t be sexy if he’s not tough. Toughness is sexy.
Felt like Ryan. Felt sexy. Sexier, actually.
More grinding of the pedals, less gliding, harder thrusting. Ouch.
Hurt so much. Thought about SwimSwam and all the articles of mine they’re not publishing and pedaled harder and thought about losing and rejection and how much I know I need it, how central it has been to my life narrative. As constant as my need for drinking water. Doors closing in my face nourishes my mind and heart.
Riding a bike faster than you want to is like swimming faster than you want to. Doesn’t feel great. Feels comfortable. Sucks.
But as we all know, in order to make progress in life we have to do things that are hard, painful, and unpleasant. We have to feel the pain and fight through it.
Otherwise we’re not tough. And when we’re not tough, we’re not sexy.
Now I sit in Dunkin Donuts thinking what would Ryan Lochte do? He would order a Frozen Bonfire Smore Coffee Blast. So I did.
And thought about Ryan winning 12 Olympic medals while admitting that every morning he woke up to go to swim practice he didn’t want to because, really, who likes the thought of getting out of bed and suffering in a pool for hours? It’s against human nature to want that.
But Ryan did it anyway for decades, endlessly. That’s mental strength.
We all need mental strength. It’s all we have to cling to.
I need that strength now to deal with SwimSwam’s unwillingness to publish my articles. They don’t seem to appreciate these articles are difficult to copy, sustainable over the long term, and easy to understand – the definition of an effective strategy.
This is all you need to know: Knock on the door enough times and someone will eventually open it.
That’s sexy.
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Sammy Sportface, a sports blogger, galvanizes, inspires, and amuses The Baby Boomer Brotherhood. And you can learn about his vision and join this group's Facebook page here:
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