MountainCoach: Linger. Fun Word.

How quickly do you move on from a problem you just can't quite figure out? If you are like me you looked at the math problem and moved right on to the text. There is NO WAY I'm going to try and figure that out. If world power were determined by math skills alone, then we'd already be worshiping our new Asian imperial overlords. I read a recent study looking at how much time we Americans will spend with an obstacle versus others with similar situations. It's not even close. Another story looked at how confident we are versus the actual test score. Guess what. Students in the United States felt the most confident but scored the worst. Japan and Korea had the lowest confidence ranking but the highest math score.

I wonder how many people reading this blog didn't make it this far?

How often do you quit? You start strong. You rarely finish. You start reading the book. You start the diet. Cleaning out the garage. The gym membership. Reading the bible. No Coke. Date night. Journal. Take more pictures. Make the beds every day.

Then IT happens. We quit. We give up. We give in. We stop. We settle. We play small. We pass.

What is the "it". That voice that tells us to quit. You are doing push-ups. You get 8 in. The goal is 10. The arms are shaking. Your head is about to explode. And you stop. Who is in control of YOU. Could you have done 10 if your life depended on it? Why didn't we push through it? Where is the 'want to'?

“Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.” Jacob A. Riis, 1849-1914

I would like you to think about the GAP. That moment right between just a doing it, and squat.
I know I can feel the tension between the two. The moment of decision. We all have a natural cadence. We are strolling right along. Obstacle. [Insert your time spent here] Then we quit.

Here is my challenge to you. Linger. When you find yourself in the gap. Don't move on with business as usual. Decide to stay there. Be there. Fully present. Give it one more. Why you may be asking. Because that is where great lives. This is where growth happens. They say the biggest obstacle to great is good. Remain or stay in that place longer than usual. What happens next is breathtaking. It's refreshing. It's unexpected. It's the answer. The solution. When we linger and stay with something, we are honoring something deep within us. It feels good. It feels great!

That relationship. Linger. The workout. Linger. The book. Linger.

You being the absolute best you. Linger.

Linger – verb (used without object)