To maximize effects, one has to focus on maintaining the intensity of the motion from start to finish, no matter how much it burns; and, boy, is it definitely going to burn! Along with increasing strength, power and endurance, the constant motion of rope battling will astound you with a muscle-toning, metabolic workout unlike any other. You’ll also be shocked at how fast a few quick whips can get you to your maximum heart rate.
My son looked at me and said, “Ma, I don’t feel sorry for you because you can do this.”
At first, after 15 seconds, I could do no more. My son’s voice repeated the following in my ears: “Ma, you got this, you can do this.” He pushed me to think past the pain, to my journey. He reminded me of relationships gone sour and how complete I am today because of them; reminded me of losing my job and the new opportunities I’m faced with today; the fire in my home and the new home being rebuilt. Then he told me to look at how I have been blessed: with my children, my grandchildren, and those blessings yet to come. And what would you know—I completed my minute and then went on to do two more laps! My son had pushed me through myself—beyond my fears, my doubts, my worries—then sealed my workout with a kiss on my cheek, saying, “Ma, I told you could do it!” I chuckled as I thought back to the years when I was at his football games, basketball tournaments, and wrestling matches, cheering him on with similar words of encouragement; and now the tables had turned.
That moment made me reconsider my life with a closer look. Earlier in the week, my brother reminded me of how going through something physically brings attention to something deeper within us. My whole weekend experience was such a colossal and apparent reminder of how I always want to be pushed toward supporting a greater purpose with my life. When I’m called to do something bigger, my soul says, “Don’t go to your resting place, Phyllis; you got this! The job is a big one and you may be uncomfortable, but you can do this.”
With the pleasant, natural beauty and interpersonal energy surrounding me at ASH BASH, it was easy to take off and forget my resting place! It was the later workout, amongst family, that I failed to recognize as an equal feat! It may have been void of the colors in a skyline sunset and the kind, warm faces that gently encouraged me to go on, but it was tough love! Raw encouragement! Framed by a stern face that loves me even more than those along the Hudson. With the on-looking eyes of my blossoming grandchildren, I regained perspective of my purpose. And in the humble exchange of roles between a mother and her grown son, I was encompassed by newfound fervor!