There will be times in your life, your relationships, and in your training that you hit a wall. The proverbial wall means that you think you can’t do one more thing or go one step forward or invest anymore energy. As you move towards your goals and your destiny you will be met with this feeling. It’s a normal part of your journey. Today I want to encourage and shed some light on what to do when you hit a wall you think you can’t get past. I want to share a story from my own life to give you a little perspective.
Right when I got out of college I started boxing. I had always wanted to do it and when I got done playing college softball I needed an outlet. Of course I didn’t want to just workout. I wanted to fight and I wanted to compete. Training to be a competitive boxer is like nothing you’ve ever put your body through. I had spent plenty of time in pretty tough workouts in college but nothing was like this. It challenged every muscle fiber I had and that was just the physical part. Mentally you have to deal with failing and failing a lot. Every time I tripped on a jump rope, every time I dropped my hands and got hit in the mouth, every time I forgot to breathe I paid for it. You had to develop mental fortitude to keep going after you failed. To keep fighting even when you are still getting hit repeatedly is a mental battle. Trust me.
So one of the ways you train for this in the boxing ring is to exhaust yourself until you get your second wind. This consists of pushing yourself to the point where you hit your wall. It’s really not a good training session until you get there and different workouts will get you there sooner, some later. For me, this happened after I had gone at least four rounds of a full circuit. I won’t overwhelm you with details of what a circuit looked like just know it was A LOT OF WORK. Then I would get in the ring and work the mitts with my trainer for four rounds. I knew I hit my wall when I wanted to puke or couldn’t feel my arms.
But a miraculous thing would happen after you hit your wall and then chose to press through it and keep going; you caught your second wind.The beauty of a second wind meant that you could go all night long. You could stay in the ring all day and be fine. No puking. No numb arms. It’s like everything would open up and you felt unstoppable. Because you were. What this processed disciplined you to do was crave the wall. Crave the pain so you could get it over with and get your second wind. Think about the mindset that can create in a person. You can have it too.
Sometimes it takes hitting the wall before things start to open up. Unfortunately, many people panic or quit when they get to the wall. They give into overwhelm, fatigue, and frustration. They become shocked that they feel this way and shout “But I’m working so hard!!” and quit only to have to start again and get to the wall again. Keep going until the wall falls down. Sometimes you will barely be able to move. Just keep moving. Keep working hard. Be excited when you hit that wall because the home stretch is coming. The wall is coming down and you are being led into the wide open.
God will do this with you in every aspect of your life. I believe he shows us this in our physical training for a reason. He is leading you in a spacious place. You must do the work and never quit. Keep moving even if it’s barely. Know the wall is coming and prepare for it, realizing that a second wind you never could’ve imagined is on the other side. And on that other side….you are unstoppable.
Chasing My Wall,
Lindsey Nadler
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