Impossible or Just Really Hard

When I read this in my email on Tuesday, I was really impressed with the story. Riding a bike from Stockholm to Mount Everest, climbing the mountain, and returning by bike to Stockholm seems really impossible to me. Is it impossible or just really hard?

However, when we think about our daily meditation practice, it also become a challenge. We always find other things to do rather than just sitting there. We almost always want to do something. We have forgotten how to be.

“Take the survival tale of Swedish adventurer Göran Kropp. In October 1995, he left Stockholm, Sweden, on a bicycle and rode it to the base of Mount Everest, arriving there in April 1996. He climbed Everest, reaching the summit with no oxygen mask and no help from Sherpas. He descended the mountain and eventually pedaled back to Sweden. If someone invited you to undertake such a wild adventure, you might say: “That’s impossible!” or “You’re crazy!”

As it turns out, it’s not impossible. It’s hard — really hard — but doable under the right circumstances. The cliché is true: Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Seemingly unsurmountable challenges confronting your business, sports, health and fitness, and relationships are far more manageable than you might imagine…”

“Challenging yourself to accomplish more than you know you can is never stupid — it helps show you what you are capable of. It creates a new frame of reference, one you can draw upon in the face of other things that are perceived as being tough in your life. It shows you possibilities you didn’t know existed. That’s why I started the Spartan Race, and that’s why I wrote this book.“

~ Joe De Sena from Spartan Up!

What if we take on the challenge of daily meditation with the same gusto that Göran Kropp did? What mountain of enlightenment would we be able to climb? How much could we contribute to the benefit of all sentient beings? If you have read Mount Analogue, by René Daumal you’ll see what I’m talking about. It is a story about the spiritual assent to the top of the “mountain,” where enlightenment becomes available.

Do you think this is impossible or just really hard? Are you willing to try it?

Books by Joe De Sena

Spartan Up!: A Take-No-Prisoners Guide to Overcoming Obstacles and Achieving Peak Performance in Life by Joe De Sena Twenty-six point two miles isn’t enough anymore. Obstacle course racing, which combines the endurance challenges of a marathon with the mind-bending rigors of overcoming obstacles along the way, is taking the world by storm. At the center of this phenomenon is Joe De Sena, the driving force b… [Read More…]