The Challenges We Embrace, It’s All Good

“The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion. That’s what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they’ll go through the pain no matter what happens.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is the pain or discomfort felt several hours (24 to 48 typically) after exercising. I’m currently suffering from this.

After a break from resistance training, I got back at it this week. Today I am feeling the effects (DOMS) from the lower body exercises I did on Tuesday night. Some at my house think it’s funny as I struggle to sit down, stand up, or go up and down stairs.

But I’m ok with all of it. I’m ok because I see this as progress. Progress because I’m working to improve my body. It’s adjusting to these changes, and that’s the muscle soreness I’m feeling.

This is not unlike how your head may hurt after absorbing a lot of new information, or heart might be pounding after taking on some challenging project. In all these cases, we are growing. Growing stretches us and challenges us. In the case of my resistance training exercises, I have challenged the muscles in my legs. In so doing this, they have responded by growing, and in the growing process the muscles that were stagnant have been forced to change. In this change, I feel soreness.

As we grow and change in whatever we are doing, this can create new challenges (for me, it was challenges to my muscles). But it is in this growth process that we change who we are. The key, then, would be that we make changes that are for the better.

I challenge you to go out there and grow yourself in some new area of your life. And embrace the changes that this brings, even though it may not be easy along the way. In the end, if you are true to your self and goals you desire, the challenges you face along the way will all be worth it. You’ll come out a changed person, and stronger because of the growth you went through.

It’s all good.

Lance writes stories from his heart, aiming to inspire and motivate, as you align more fully with YOUR true peak. When he's not here, you can find him hanging out with his family, riding a bike, or just generally acting goofy. Sign up for the Thoughts from the Treehouse newsletter and get additional inspiration in your email inbox!