The Joshua tree tattoo on my forearm isn’t about the tree.
It’s a memo to myself.
In 2023, Kelli and I decided – on a whim – to hike a marathon in Joshua Tree.
We got our gear together and prepared for a long, challenging day… then cruised the last six miles at a 14-minute pace.
It messed with my head a little.
I started to wonder – how many of my “limits” are just stories I’ve told myself, but never tested?
I put the reminder in ink so I wouldn’t forget… We are capable of more than we think.
Kelli and I kept going – one marathon hike each quarter somewhere new. Those got normal.
So we aimed bigger – 120 miles through the Alps.
We trained and braced to find our edge… But never really hit it.
Again, the edge sat further out than I thought.
This isn’t to brag (I almost didn’t post this because I didn’t want it to seem that way).
I’m not an endurance athlete.
I don’t have a maniacal 4:00 am wakeup and training schedule (props to you if you do).
But the more I test the stories I’ve told myself, the farther away the edge feels.
Lately I’ve been running little experiments in other areas of life:
- The farthest I’d ever biked was 50 miles. Last month I did 100 – twice – and couldn’t believe how good I felt after.
- I posted on LinkedIn ten times in the first half of the year because I thought I didn’t have “enough to say.” I’ve challenged that with a regular writing practice and am doing my best to share three posts a week.
- A silent meditation retreat intimidated me, so I’m heading to the mountains to do one this fall.
With each experiment, I’m finding my edge is farther away than what I’ve been telling myself.
So here’s a question to sit with, if you feel so inclined…
What stories are you telling yourself that keep you from finding your edge?
Here’s what I’ve learned in exploring mine:
- Most limits are BS. When I go after them, they fade away.
- Pushing my edge is where I find out more of who I am.
- Seeing how far away my edge really is gives me the confidence to keep testing myself – it’s a classic “virtuous cycle”.
I’m not trying to always live at the edge.
I’m just trying to know where it actually is.
Sometimes I find it. Sometimes I don’t.
Either way, I meet a little more of myself.
And that alone is reason to keep going.
We’re capable of more than we think.
