Limits are challenges that we all have to deal with in life, but if you want to grow as an individual and reach your full potential, you must learn to challenge those limits. In this article, Sorcha will talk about how you can do that!
Everyone has limits. Sometimes you can move these limits over time, and sometimes they’re stuck in place. Either way, limits are frustrating. The only way you can really test your limits is to find out what they are by putting all your effort into whatever it is you’re doing, then try to push just that little bit harder.
You should never just take someone else’s word when it comes to your limits, even if they are only saying it because they care about you and don’t want to see you ‘hit a wall’ (theoretically of course, don’t go running into actual walls).or a person to grow, they need to test their limits, and this may involve hitting a few walls along the way! You need to decide for yourself whether you think you can do something. Now, you need to be realistic when it comes to this, otherwise you’re just being reckless.
An example I’m going to use is dancing. When I started dancing, I wanted to be great at everything. I wanted to be able to do multiple pirouettes, have crazy flexibility and jumps that look like I’m flying. I saw other dancers make it all look so easy. I had to constantly remind myself that they all worked so hard to gain these skills. I also had to remind myself that I had a crazy complicated chronic disease and training for hours seven days a week and taking multiple classes was way past my limits. If I attempted this, I would end up burning myself out. I couldn’t put in as much work as other dancers, but I could still do my best. It takes me longer to get there, but looking back I have definitely pushed my fitness limits when it comes to dance.
Pushing your limits is a bit like dancing. You can take a few steps forward, then life happens and you take a few steps back, but you’ll take a few more steps forward again!
Fitness limits are good because usually, if you put in the work, you will see results. This is the same with nutrition. If you make small changes to your diet to make it healthier, you will usually feel better after a short period of time. Small changes are good because then you look back and realise how far you’ve come without even realising it.
There are some limits that are more difficult to push, and like I said above, sadly sometimes they are there to stay. But that doesn’t mean you can’t work around them though. Maybe you want to get your own place, but because of your disability it’s not safe for you to live alone. Maybe you want to learn to drive, but your disability doesn’t allow you to. There may be places you want to go and you want to travel around the world, but you can’t. You may not be able to do these things exactly as you want to, but you can make a few compromises.
You could apply for live-in care. You could see if there’s any funding to help subsidise taxis or maybe you have a good public transport system where you live, make yourself familiar with it. Travelling has become a lot more accessible nowadays, but it’s still expensive, especially when you can’t just go on a whim and book a cheap flight somewhere and stay in hostels. You need to plan out your holidays by saving up to go somewhere. Go make good memories, and suss out who would be happy to go with you. Someone you can have a good time with and feel comfortable with.
I mentioned earlier about ‘hitting the wall’. You’re probably wondering how you’ll know if you’ve hit that wall. Trust me, you’ll know! Your body will tell you and you’ll have no choice but to listen. I’ve hit many walls and it could take me a week or more to recover. My problem is that I constantly try to keep up with everyone else. I hate using my illness as an excuse, which is stupid, because it’s not an excuse. I try to ignore the warning signs and then it’s too late. I also hate letting people down. Now I feel I’ve gotten better at not biting off more than I can chew while still pushing myself a little. I still go too far at times, but I’m only human! Still, I look back at my life and I’m proud of how far I’ve come in so many ways. If you really want something you must fight for it. You must push your limits.
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