Uphill vs Downhill

Sitting in doctor's office this morning, just a check up nothing crazy, I sat without my phone for 25 minutes waiting.  I stared out the window and saw these snowmen standing tall - on the top of the hill.

My first thought was, why would you make a snowman on the top of a hill???

It has been a minute since I have made a snowman but rolling the heavy weighted snow UP a tall hill would be a lot harder than rolling a snowball down a hill.  The amount of effort to bring that to the top just seemed like the wrong decision in the moment.

Then as I sat in the quiet looking out the window I thought more and more about uphill vs downhill.  When looking at races one of the first attributes you look at is the elevation.   Downhill is never really a concern because that seems like it would be welcomed as opposed to a steep uphill climb.  Those races that have so much uphill are so quickly to be ruled out, at least I did in the past.

When I think about my kids learning how to ride their bikes-the downhill scared the crap out of me...there is no control, fast into a curb or a tree or a person.  Visions of them flipping over the handlebars is all I can see.  Going uphill is the dreadful side to side slow motion biking but generally you can catch yourself before the fall happens and drop your foot to stop and balance.  It is more difficult and more labored.

No one would want to do the harder thing on purpose.  But when stepping back into my health journey yet again, I feel that the downhills are the places where I find myself getting into trouble.  I feel like I spiraled down faster without any chance to hit the breaks without flipping.  It may be the fastest way to get from point A to B but it is a blur.  It is me grabbing food mindlessly and bypassing a chance for a walk or a workout in the early morning. It is me making other things that are shiny and easy to grab more of a priority.  The downhill is something that I couldn't describe in any great detail because it just happened and I was barely a witness to it.

The harder path is the uphill.  You get winded and you have to pause as you continue the long ascent.  Often on a hike you find yourself pausing with others on the uphill and commiserating about the never ending uphill but closing the conversation with a bit of encouragement.  This journey again for me is all uphill.  My steps have to be properly calculated, prepping food and workouts and ensuring I am getting enough sleep and water.  I have to accept that this option will take longer and there will be moments where I want to turn and just go downhill to get it over with...but I have to just keep looking to the top of the hill.

I have this sign in our homework room, it's a perfect reminder for all of us on the daily. Just don't stop! I also need to give myself some grace that the breaks that I take on the uphill may be a day, a week or in this case a year or more.  Sometimes you have to throw yourself into the downhill to get to the bottom to take care of something else that is more shiny and needed at the time...but don't be afraid to tackle the uphill again.  

Embrace the suck...choose you...hard is possible.