Finding strength to keep going when you want to quit.
- ulorkis
- Mar 20, 2024
- 2 min read
I used to love cold showers for all the wrong reasons.
This is how it was explained to me - Forcing yourself into freezing water pushes you to dig deep and tap into a heightened mental state. It’s forced fight or flight. Choose fight and you can tap into a place of deep energy and strength.
I was all in.
After a number of cold showers, I realized that the energy doesn’t last. I was fired up in the morning but would crash in the afternoon. The person who felt unstoppable at 9am was the same one searching for cookies in the fridge and going to take a nap at 3pm. I realized this:
I wasn’t actually finding more energy through digging deep and fighting, I was depleting my reservoir.
Brene Brown redefines what it means to dig deep in life and work.
Instead of pushing through when we can’t go on, she encourages to
D.I.G deep.
D - Deliberate in thoughts and behaviors through prayer and meditation.
I - Inspired to make new or different choices.
G - Going to take action.
In Judaism - digging deep is inbuilt into the structure of our day.
No matter how busy we get, there are always access points to be more deliberate and find spirit in our actions.
Tefilla - 3 times a day we get the chance to tap into a transcendent mindset and reorient ourselves to what is truly important.
Brachot - before we eat, we are asked to build awareness and Gratitude of where our food has come from and how fortunate we are to have it. Inspiration can be found in the most seemingly mundane acts.
Mitzvot - spiritual ideas need to be translated into action. It’s not enough to be inspired, you must create finite action that reflect the infinite. All of your small steps can reflect a deeper spiritual purpose.
These are just 3 of many examples.
I’ll sum it up with a conversation I recently had with a friend. It went like this:
“What’s the most productive thing you can do during lunch?”
“Just eat lunch.”
**Disclaimer - cold showers still rock and I haven’t given them up, but for a completely different reason!